As Mamdani Cites ICC Warrant, Trump Says 'Netanyahu Will Not Be Arrested' in NYC
New York City's mayor reiterated Monday that his administration will "follow all applicable local laws" as he considers legal options to take against the fugitive Israeli prime minister.
US President Donald Trump declared Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza—will be safe from arrest in the United States after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was exploring whether he could apprehend the fugitive during his planned visit to the United Nations in September.
"Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
"He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others," the president continued, citing a protest death claim made by opponents of the Iranian government, which said that 3,117 people were killed.
"The only ones that should be arrested," Trump added, "are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented SPIRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION, something that should have been dealt with years ago, by previous Presidents!"
The US and Israel are currently waging an illegal war of choice against Iran.
Trump's post followed weekend remarks by Mamdani, who told The New York Times that Netanyahu "belongs in The Hague," the Dutch city that's home to both the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice, where a genocide case against Israel filed by South Africa in 2023 is pending.
“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” the mayor said. “I will follow the laws that we have here in New York City because I believe that there is an importance in following the law as a leader who presides over our city.”
"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," he added.
Mamdani was asked about his remarks during a Monday press conference.
"We're speaking about someone who's the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant," he said of Netanyahu. "And he's the subject of this arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity, for war crimes, and he's the architect of the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza as Israel's prime minister. These are not facts of my personal assessment; they are facts of public record."
"And I believe that when someone is charged with an International Criminal Court warrant, it's something that should be taken seriously, whether it's Benjamin Netanyahu or it's [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, or whomever else," Mamdani added. "What I've also made clear is that my administration will follow all applicable local laws. That is our commitment."
🚨Mamdani on why he ordered review re: Netanyahu arrest:
“He's the architect of the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza as Israel's prime minister...
“If someone is charged with a warrant for by the International Criminal Court for these kinds of crimes, that's something I… https://t.co/6OfJPRJQ4u pic.twitter.com/Wee0mbID9S
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) July 20, 2026
Although neither the US nor Israel is an ICC member, Palestine is a state party to the Rome Statute, the treaty governing the tribunal, Articles 12 and 13 of the document say that individuals from nonsignatory nations can be held liable for crimes committed in the territory of a member state.
Article 27 of the Rome Statute also says that serving as a head of state or government, or as any elected official, "shall in no case exempt a person from criminal responsibility" before the court.
However, Article 98 of the treaty may limit governments' obligation to execute an ICC arrest warrant in certain circumstances involving officials of nonparty states.
Netanyanu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, are accused of murder and forced starvation in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the deadliest in that country's history.
Israeli forces have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, over 21,500 of them children, in Gaza since October 2023, while wounding over 173,500 others, according to Palestinian officials. More than 2 million other Gazans have been forcibly displaced—often multiple times—starved, or sickened by the US-backed war, which UN and other experts say is a genocide.
While numerous Global South nations—particularly members of the Hague Group—and US allies including Belgium, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Spain have publicly said they would enforce the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, other nations including France and Hungary have said they would not try to arrest the Israelis if they entered their territory.
