NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani concedes he cannot order Benjamin Netanyahu's arrest

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has conceded he cannot order the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu when he sets foot in his city after days of fevered debate about the issue.

The Israeli prime minister, who is subject to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), is expected to travel to New York City to attend the yearly United Nations General Assembly session in September.

Even US President Donald Trump weighed in earlier in the week, saying Mr Netanyahu would be welcomed to the United States.

Mr Mamdani has been a vocal critic of Mr Netanyahu and the Israeli government's policies for some time, particularly over the destruction wrought in Gaza during years of war.

The New York City mayor labelled what happened in Gaza, where more than 73,000 people were killed during Israel's bombardment of the strip after Hamas' deadly attacks on Israel in October 2023, as a "genocide".

During his mayoral campaign Mr Mamdani had pledged he would order Mr Netanyahu's arrest.

The basis for that was the arrest warrant issued for the Israeli prime minister by the ICC in late 2024 on allegations he had committed war crimes.

Mr Netanyahu and the Israeli government have labelled the warrant as unjustified and politically motivated, and have rejected the allegations of genocide in Gaza.

Mr Mamdani won the New York City mayoral election last November and was sworn in on New Year's Day 2026.

During an interview with the New York Times published over the weekend Mr Mamdani said there was an "active conversation" happening within the City Hall's legal department as to whether he could order police to arrest Mr Netanyahu.

"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 said.

That prompted a furious response from the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, labelling it "political theatre".

He claimed it should be Mr Mamdani who was arrested, and accused him of supporting Hamas.

"Mamdani is failing to govern New York," Mr Danon posted on social media platform X.

"Instead of focusing on his responsibilities as mayor and confronting the rising wave of anti-Semitism in his city, he has chosen to incite hostility and generate headlines by attacking the State of Israel."

Mr Netanyahu's office then weighed in.

"The ICC is a kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis," it posted on X, calling the arrest warrant "bogus".

Then, the US president weighed in.

"Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America," Mr Trump said on Truth Social.

"He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protesters, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others.

"The only ones that should be arrested 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!"

Two days later, Mr Mamdani issued a video statement.

"Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. The architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people," he said.

"There is a reason the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest."

But he conceded it was difficult for him to act.

"My administration has reviewed every avenue available under applicable law to determine whether New York City could execute the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant if Benjamin Netanyahu came here," Mr Mamdani said.

"It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.

"The federal government, however, does, and I call on them to join the ICC and execute this warrant.

"And I want to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large."

There are a couple of factors at play here.

"The United States is not part of the International Criminal Court, and so the arrest warrant is not recognised in US law and thus there is no legal mechanism to enforce the warrant," Harvard Law School professor Alex Whiting told the ABC.

"The US also respects Netanyahu's immunity from arrest as a foreign head of state.

"A provision of US law, called the American Service-Members' Protection Act, prohibits extraditing anyone from the US to the ICC."

It's not just a case of the US not recognising the court — the Trump administration has gone so far as to sanction the ICC and its judges for pursuing people like Mr Netanyahu.

Professor Whiting, a former ICC prosecutor, also pointed to the special status given to the United Nations under US law which means diplomats and leaders are protected from arrest when they are attending sessions at its headquarters.

But, he said, there were other ways the arrest warrant could have an impact.

"One way that ICC arrest warrants can have an effect even without an arrest is when they lead to the marginalisation of the person charged on the world stage," Professor Whiting argued.

"I think Mamdani is seeking to amplify the impact of the ICC arrest warrant even if there cannot be an actual arrest."

Avid plane watchers often note that Mr Netanyahu, whenever he flies overseas, takes much longer routes to avoid flying over certain countries.

In some cases the routes avoid countries which are hostile to Israel or do not recognise its existence.

In others they avoid countries which might try to enforce the warrants. As a result, Mr Netanyahu has largely avoided European airspace since late 2024.

There are more than 120 member states of the ICC, including Australia, and all of them have an obligation to enforce its warrants.

The US and Israel are not members of the ICC.

Some of Israel's strongest critics, such as Ireland and Spain, have said they would enforce the warrant against Mr Netanyahu, while other countries have issued far more vague statements about how they would act.

Many Arab nations have also supported the arrest warrant, although it's highly unlikely the Israeli prime minister was going to visit those countries any time soon.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in 2024, soon after the warrant was issued, that the country would "act consistently with our obligations under international law and our approach will be informed by international law, not by politics".

She said at the time the question of Mr Netanyahu travelling to Australia was "hypothetical".