Mamdani Says Still Mulling Netanyahu Arrest during UNGA

IQNA - New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Saturday said that his administration is reviewing whether it has the legal authority to arrest Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city for the UN General Assembly in September.

News ID: 3498327

Date: 19 July 2026 - 09:56

"I believe that prime minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague," Mamdani said on The New York Times' 'The Interview' podcast. "He's a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court."

Mamdani said he was in "an active conversation" with the New York City Law Department over whether he has the authority to direct the New York Police Department to detain a foreign leader.

"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.

Mamdani had previously said during his mayoral campaign that he would seek to enforce the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Netanyahu if Netanyahu visited New York.

Mamdani has repeatedly condemned Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.

Source: NYTimes