New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was forced to admit Tuesday that City Hall does not have the legal power to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, torpedoing his headline-grabbing push to target the Israeli leader if he visits New York.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist who has repeatedly blasted Israel, had said his administration was reviewing whether local authorities could enforce an International Criminal Court warrant against Netanyahu.
The answer was no.
In a video posted on X, Mamdani said his team reviewed “every avenue available” under the law and determined New York City cannot independently execute the warrant.
“The federal government, however, does, and I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant,” he said, adding that Netanyahu is “not welcome” in New York City.
Mamdani described Netanyahu as the “architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people” over Israel’s war in Gaza.
The ICC issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity tied to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Israel has rejected the allegations and accused the court of acting as a biased political body.
Neither Israel nor the United States is a party to the ICC’s core treaty, meaning the court has no automatic enforcement power in either country.
President Donald Trump shut down Mamdani’s arrest fantasy Monday, saying Netanyahu would be protected while in the U.S.
Trump said Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”
Netanyahu’s office also blasted the ICC and mocked the warrant.
Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. pic.twitter.com/YRezmW6YVx
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) July 22, 2026
On Tuesday, his office described the ICC as a “kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis” and the arrest warrant as “bogus.”
“Under Prime Minister Netanyahu’s leadership, Israel has taken unprecedented wartime measures to minimize harm to civilians while confronting Hamas,” it said.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, tore into Mamdani over the stunt.
“Zohran Mamdani, ENOUGH,” he wrote on X. “Enough with the attacks on Jewish organizations. Enough with the outreach to the Iranian regime. You were elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas’ propaganda. Do your job!” he wrote.
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Mamdani’s anti-Netanyahu campaign has drawn criticism even from some Democrats, who warned that a New York mayor has no business trying to arrest the leader of a U.S. ally.
Netanyahu is expected to travel to New York in September for the United Nations General Assembly.
Trump and former President Joe Biden have both criticized the ICC warrant and backed Israel’s right to defend itself after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
Hamas terrorists killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostages during the massacre that launched the war.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says most of the dead are women and children.
For Mamdani, the legal walk-back was a public humiliation.
He went from floating an arrest of Israel’s prime minister to admitting New York City cannot do it.
Then he tried to punt the demand to the same federal government led by Donald Trump, who already made clear the answer is no.
The mayor’s critics say the episode shows exactly what happens when progressive foreign-policy theatrics collide with the law.
Mamdani was elected to run New York City.
Instead, he spent the week trying to make an international arrest threat he had no authority to carry out.
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