Mamdani backtracked on his promise to arrest Netanyahu, citing a lack of authority

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who had previously vowed to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited the city, said he no longer had the “authority” to do so.

In a video posted on social media, Mamdani instead asked US authorities to file an arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister at the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes.

Technically, Netanyahu could be arrested and tried if he entered an ICC member state – but the United States is not a member of the ICC.

President Donald Trump said Netanyahu was “absolutely not arrested” when he was in the US.

It is fighting the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protesters and has spent the past 47 years killing US soldiers and others, Trump said in a Truths social post on Monday.

Trump responded to Mamdani’s comments in an interview with The New York Times on Saturday, saying the mayor was in “active discussions” with law enforcement about the possibility of executing the ICC warrant.

On Tuesday, Mamdani said his team reviewed “all the options” available under the law and concluded that “we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this.”

“But the federal government does. And I request them to join the ICC and execute this warrant,” Mamdani said.

In a video on social media, Mamdani said Netanyahu was “welcome” in New York City, where he is expected to travel to the United Nations General Assembly in September.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 for alleged war crimes in Gaza, as well as a Hamas commander.

The ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against states that are parties to the Treaty of Rome.

“I believe Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs to The Hague,” Mamdani said in a New York Times interview, referring to the International Court of Justice. “He is a war criminal indicted by the International Criminal Court.”

During his run for mayor of New York City, Mamdani repeatedly called Netanyahu a war criminal and called the Gaza war a genocide.

His comments came as Democratic voters’ support for Israel seems to be changing, with recent developments Poll , External58% of Democrats believe that the United States will support Israel in 2024, up from 45% in 2024.

In response to Mamdani’s interview, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told the mayor, “You were elected to serve the people of New York, not Hamas’s propaganda.”