On July 21, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a video statement regarding the enforcement of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was issued by the International Criminal Court on November 21, 2024, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated against civilians in the Gaza Strip between October 8, 2023, and May 20, 2024.
Mamdani’s statement follows an interview he granted the New York Times on July 18, in which he said that Netanyahu “belongs in The Hague,” and that his administration was discussing whether the legal authority existed to detain the Israeli Prime Minister upon his expected arrival at the UN General Assembly in September. He told the New York Times, “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.”
In his video statement, Mamdani denounced Netanyahu as a war criminal, who is “the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people,” responsible for the deaths of over 73,000 people, and for the “maiming of tens of thousands of children.” He also cited Israel’s targeting of hospitals and maternity care centers in Gaza, along with the indiscriminate killing of international journalists and aid workers.
Though Mamdani acknowledged Netanyahu’s crimes against humanity, and his agreement with the ICC’s ruling, he noted that his administration did not have the independent legal authority to enforce the ICC warrant. Instead, Mamdani called on the federal government—which he said does have the authority—to execute the warrant.
Mamdani concluded, “Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large. While we cannot end the genocide on our own, we can decide whether our silence will become another weapon, and we can examine every tool we have to defend the humanity and dignity of all people.”
