(Photo credit: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)The Cradle
JUL 18, 2026
New York City lawyers are reportedly examining whether the mayor can order Netanyahu’s arrest during the UNGA summit
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on 18 July that he is still considering the possible arrest of Israeli Prime Minister and wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York City for the UN General Assembly in September.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in the Hague,” Mamdani said in an interview with the New York Times (NYT) program The Interview.
“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani stressed, adding “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.”
The New York mayor clarified that he is still unsure whether he has the legal authority to order the New York Police Department, which he oversees, to arrest a foreign leader like Netanyahu.
He added that he is currently in “an active conversation” with the city’s Law Department on the issue. “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.”
Last year, during his mayoral campaign, Mamdani told the NYT that he would order the arrest of Netanyahu if he were to travel to the city.
He pledged to uphold the ICC warrant against Netanyahu, who is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Mamdani’s revelations occur during a significant shift in US public opinion against Israel, as the ongoing genocide in Gaza damages decades of US political backing.
June congressional primaries in New York highlighted the shift as progressive candidates openly critical of Israel’s genocide in Gaza defeated incumbents backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Several pro-Israel incumbents lost to challengers who campaigned directly against their stance on Gaza and their acceptance of AIPAC money, which voters increasingly see as a black spot and a sign of dual loyalties in Israel’s favor.
Polling from April showed the majority of US citizens now hold an unfavorable view of Israel, with “very unfavorable” sentiment nearly tripling since 2022.
An earlier Gallup poll found that, for the first time in US history, more US citizens sympathize with Palestinians than with Israelis, with 41 percent backing Palestinians against 36 percent for Israelis.
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