NYC Mayor Mamdani calls Israel's Netanyahu a 'war criminal' but admits he can't act on ICC arrest warrant

NYC Mayor Mamdani calls Israel's Netanyahu a 'war criminal' but admits he can't act on ICC arrest warrant

Mamdani video comes as world leaders will be in NYC in coming weeks for UN General Assembly

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said late on Tuesday that the city would not be able to execute an arrest warrant issued by the world's top war-crimes court for Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, but urged the federal government to do so.

In the video, Mamdani described the Israeli prime minister as a "war criminal" and said he is not welcome in New York City.

"It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant," he said in a video posted on X. "The federal government, however, does, and I call on them to join the [International Criminal Court] and execute this warrant."

Mamdani had told the New York Times earlier this month that he and the city's legal department were discussing arresting Netanyahu if he comes to New York City for the UN General Assembly in September.

President Donald Trump on Monday told Netanyahu in a social media post that he "will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America." The post did not directly mention Mamdani.

Mamdani had said throughout his mayoral election campaign last year that he would seek to order the city's police to arrest Netanyahu under the criminal court's warrant over the Israeli prime minister's role in the war in Gaza.

In his video message on Tuesday, Mamdani said his administration has reviewed all avenues available and determined the city can't execute the arrest warrant.

Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, responded by telling the mayor "enough."

"You were elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas's propaganda," he said in a statement on social media. "Do your job!"

U.S. doesn't recognize ICC jurisdiction

The world's top war-crimes court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and others in 2024, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza. The ICC also sought arrest warrants for three Hamas officials, but all have since been killed.

They said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant have used "starvation as a method of warfare" by restricting humanitarian aid and have intentionally targeted civilians in Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny.

Repeating allegations he made on the campaign trail, Mamdani said in the video that Netanyahu was the "architect of a horrific genocide." Israel denies committing genocide in Gaza, including in a response last month to a report from the UN's Human Rights Council.

Israel committed genocide in Gaza, deliberately targeted Palestinian children: UN report

Israeli strikes kill 5 people in Gaza, medics say, as attacks escalate after ceasefire deal

Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people during their cross-border attack into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies, including several Canadian citizens.

The Gazan Health Ministry said Israel’s subsequent offensive killed more than 73,000 Palestinians. While the ministry often didn't distinguish between civilian casualties and those of Hamas fighters, the UN said in April that some 38,000 women and children had died.

Israel committing genocide by targeting children in Gaza: UN commission of inquiry

The deaths of hundreds of Palestinians and several Israeli soldiers have occurred even after an October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect.

The ICC was established in 2002 and has international jurisdiction ⁠to ⁠prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity ​and war crimes.

The United States and Israel are not members of the court, and Trump has clashed with the court dating back to his first administration, when the ICC made moves to investigate whether the U.S. had committed acts of torture and other crimes during the early years of the war in Afghanistan.

ICC efforts to investigate Israeli officials over actions in Gaza and the West Bank have angered the second Trump administration, which has sanctioned ICC judges, including Canada's Kimberly Prost.

Mamdani uses clout in 1st year in office

Mamdani was a state legislator when he announced a run for mayor, knocking off former governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary and then easily beating Republican opposition to be elected New York City's first Muslim mayor.

New York's Jewish voters have traditionally leaned left. In one mayoral exit poll last year, only three per cent surveyed said they had voted for the Republican candidate, though many more opted for Cuomo — a staunch supporter of Israel who remained on the ballot as an independent — than Mamdani.

"We will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism," Mamdani said on election night.

In an Associated Press-NORC poll conducted June 11-17 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, 1,022 Jewish adults were surveyed on a number of questions, including the U.S.-Israel relationship and antisemitism in the U.S.

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Mamdani vows to govern 'expansively and audaciously' in inaugural speech as NYC mayor

About four in 10 Jewish adults surveyed, or 44 per cent, view Mamdani “somewhat” or “very” favourably, while a similar share, 39 per cent, view him “somewhat” or “very” unfavourably. About two in 10 Jewish adults don’t know enough to say.

Only about one-third of the Jewish adults in the same survey had a "somewhat" or "very" favourable opinion of Netanyahu, with 42 per cent viewing him "very" unfavourably. The margin of sampling error for Jewish adults in the poll was plus or minus five percentage points.

For the first time since the Hamas attacks, Israeli voters in October will have their say on Netanyahu, who is running for re-election.