Netanyahu Rejects NYC Mayor’s Arrest Demand, Confirms Plan to Address UN General Assembly

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back Sunday against calls from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for his arrest during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly, accusing the municipal leader of inciting division while reaffirming his plans to travel to New York in September.

The public dispute highlights growing domestic friction in the United States over the war in Gaza and the enforceability of international judicial warrants on American soil. Appearing on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Netanyahu charged that Mamdani was “fomenting hate” and attempting to turn communities against one another in a city home to the world’s second-largest Jewish population.

Mamdani, who made executive enforcement of international war crimes warrants a signature theme of his election campaign, recently conceded that municipal authorities lack the statutory authority to detain foreign heads of state. However, the mayor publicly urged the U.S. federal government to execute the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, calling Netanyahu a “war criminal” who should not be welcomed in New York.

Under diplomatic host agreements governing the United Nations, foreign representatives generally receive access to official international proceedings regardless of local political opposition. Furthermore, because the United States is not a party to the Rome Statute, federal law enforcement operates without a domestic legal framework to enforce warrants from the tribunal.

Addressing the tribunal’s charges of crimes against humanity—which target Netanyahu, his former defense minister, and the late leadership of Hamas—the prime minister dismissed the allegations as baseless. He pointed to the recent removal of the court’s chief prosecutor on Friday following sexual misconduct allegations, asserting that the charges against Israeli leadership were manufactured to deflect scrutiny.

The diplomatic friction occurs alongside severe military escalation across the region. The conflict in Gaza, initiated by the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas that killed roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel, has resulted in over 73,000 fatalities in the territory according to the Gaza Health Ministry, with women and children comprising nearly half of those killed. Military operations broadened on February 28 as Israel and the U.S. engaged in conflict against Iran, alongside an Israeli ground invasion in southern Lebanon against Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces.

Speaking on television, Netanyahu expressed concern that traditional bipartisan consensus surrounding U.S. support for Israel is deteriorating, pointing to ideological shifts among progressive Democrats aligned with Mamdani’s wing of the party. He added that rising antisemitism across Western nations has created widespread discomfort among Jewish residents in New York.

Addressing potential foreign visits, Donald Trump confirmed on social media that Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form” while present in the United States.

The prime minister is expected in Washington this week to conduct meetings with Donald Trump and attend memorial services for South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who died two weeks ago from a suspected aortic tear. Netanyahu commended the late lawmaker as an “extraordinary American patriot.”