By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2026-07-18 16:01:03 | Updated at 2026-08-03 22:52:04
2 weeks ago
Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he’s still weighing whether he can arrest Benjamin Netanyahu when the Israeli prime minister is scheduled to visit the Big Apple in September.
Hizzoner, a socialist Democrat who has faced heat for his anti-Israel rhetoric, is in an “active conversation” with authorities ahead of Netanyahu’s trip to Manhattan for the UN General Assembly.
“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 added.
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani told the New York Times that “Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in the Hague.” Andrew Schwartz / SplashNews.com“And what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.”
Mamdani said he wasn’t sure if he had the authority to order the NYPD to cuff Netanyahu, but that he would act as aggressively as the law would allow.
The mayor is in “an active conversation” with the city’s Law Department over the matter, he said.
“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,” said Mamdani.
The mayor has vowed numerous times to arrest Netanyahu if he dares set foot in New York City.
During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani vowed to use the NYPD to arrest the prime minister, citing the International Criminal Court’s 2024 arrest warrant for the leader’s alleged war crimes in Gaza — which the US doesn’t recognize.
Netanyahu, however, remains unhazed by the threats.
In a recent radio appearance, he accused Mamdani of supporting Hamas.
“I think he should look at who he’s condemning, who he’s praising. He’s condemning Israel, the one democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values,” the prime minister said during an interview this week with Sid Rosenberg on 77 WABC.
When it comes to taking action against Netanyahu, Mamdani said, ““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.”. Debbie Hill/UPI/Shutterstock“Who does he champion? Hamas, that calls openly to massacre every Jew on earth, that conducted that horrible massacre [on Oct. 7, 2023], the worst massacre on Jews since the Holocaust.”
He also claimed Mamdani “doesn’t care” that “those who hate the Jews and Israel ultimately hate America.”
“And in fact I think secretly, he hates America,” the prime minister said.
Netanyahu is also expected to visit DC later this month to meet with President Trump.
He was initially scheduled to arrive this weekend, but postponed the visit after Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral was pushed back to accommodate the flood of national and international dignitaries seeking to attend.
It would mark Netanyahu’s first trip to Washington since the Iran war began in February.
