The Trump administration just made clear that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s threats to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aren’t going anywhere. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz called the proposal “pure political theater” in a blunt rebuke Saturday.
Mamdani recently revealed he’s in “active conversation” with New York City’s Law Department about whether he could order Netanyahu’s arrest if the Israeli leader visits for the United Nations General Assembly in September. Waltz wasn’t having it.
“Mayor Mamdani: here’s why your threat to arrest PM Netanyahu in NYC during UNGA is not going to happen,” Waltz wrote on X. He laid out the legal reality in plain terms: the United States is not party to the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court, the U.N. Headquarters Agreement grants diplomatic protections to visiting heads of government, longstanding head-of-state immunity applies, and “federal authority trumps any local mayor’s wishes.”
The mayor has repeatedly argued that Netanyahu should be arrested over an ICC warrant accusing the Israeli prime minister of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani told The New York Times. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court.”
Mamdani acknowledged uncertainty over his legal authority but said his administration is actively reviewing whether New York City could detain Netanyahu. “Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do, but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end,” he said.
This isn’t new territory for Mamdani. During last year’s mayoral campaign, he pledged to direct the New York Police Department to arrest Netanyahu if he entered the city in compliance with the ICC warrant. “It is my desire to ensure that this be a city that stands up for international law,” he said at the time.
Legal experts have long questioned whether such an arrest would even be possible. The United States does not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction, and any attempt by a city government to detain a sitting foreign head of government would almost certainly trigger a confrontation with federal authorities.
Netanyahu himself doesn’t seem worried. The Israeli prime minister dismissed Mamdani’s threats during an interview with radio host Sid Rosenberg, accusing the mayor of sympathizing with Hamas.
“I think he should look at who he’s condemning, who he’s praising,” Netanyahu said. “He’s condemning Israel, the one democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values.”
Netanyahu went further, claiming Mamdani “champions” Hamas and “apologizes and accuses for Iran.” He added, “He is with the terror actors. I think, secretly, he hates America.”
Waltz’s statement represents the clearest indication yet that the Trump administration has no intention of allowing New York City officials to act on Mamdani’s proposal. It effectively ends speculation over whether the mayor could attempt to use the ICC warrant during Netanyahu’s expected September visit.
