New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration is deliberating an order to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York City for the UN General Assembly in September, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in the Hague,” Mamdani told NYT podcast host Lulu Garcia-Navarro on The Interview.
“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court [ICC],” Mamdani added. “And what you will find is that it is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.”
Though Mamdani is in “active conversation” with New York’s law department over the potential detention, he said he’s not clear whether he actually has the legal authority needed to order the New York Police Department (NYPD) to arrest 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,” Mamdani said.
Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of supporting Hamas
Netanyahu recently appeared on the radio show Sid & Friends in the Morning, where he addressed Mamdani’s threats. The prime minister said he is not concerned, going on to accuse the mayor of supporting Hamas after the October 7 massacre.
“Who does he champion? Hamas, that calls openly to massacre every Jew on Earth, that conducted that horrible massacre, the worst massacre on Jews since the Holocaust,” Netanyahu said during the interview.
“I think he should look at who he’s condemning, who he’s praising,” Netanyahu added. “He’s condemning Israel, the one democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values.”
He then equated hating Israel to hating America, adding that “secretly, [Mamdani] hates America.”
Akunis: Mamdani has ‘no authority’ to arrest Netanyahu
Israel’s Consul-General in New York, Ofir Akunis, responded to Mamdani’s proclamation on Saturday, saying that he has “no authority” to call for the arrest of Netanyahu.
“Instead of dealing with matters over which he has no authority, it would be better for him to start running New York City and only New York City,” Akunis said.
Mamdani has long championed Netanyahu’s arrest, claiming during his mayoral campaign last year that he would order the NYPD to arrest the prime minister. This came in response to the warrant issued by the ICC for Netanyahu’s role in the Israel-Hamas War, which Mamdani has called a genocide.
At the time, US President Donald Trump condemned Mamdani’s calls as “inappropriate” and said he would interfere in the arrest if Mamdani attempted to follow through on the threat. Trump has made no comment on the most recent claims.
Netanyahu addressed the looming ICC warrant during a December 2025 interview, before Mamdani took office.
“No army has done what Israel has done to try to get civilians out of harm’s way, and Hamas has done everything in its power to keep civilians in harm’s way,” he said.
Danon: ‘It will not change a thing. PM Netanyahu will come to NY, address the UNGA’
UN Ambassador Danny Danon responded to Mamdani’s comments, reaffirming the prime minister’s intention to address the General Assembly and accusing the mayor of fueling hostility toward New York’s Jewish community by attacking Israel.
“It will not change a thing,” the ambassador said in a statement on X/Twitter. “Prime Minister Netanyahu will come to New York, address the United Nations General Assembly with pride, and stand before the world to state Israel’s truth and its unwavering right to defend its citizens.”
“And if anyone should be arrested, it is Mamdani,” he said.
