Mamdani Says Netanyahu ‘Belongs in the Hague’ and Vows to Enforce His Arrest Warrant — An Actual ICC Member State Already Let Him Walk.
On the New York Times podcast “The Interview,” published July 18, 2026, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “belongs in the Hague” and called him “a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court.” He said New York City would do “whatever the law allows” if Netanyahu visits.
The claim rests on a real document: the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I found “reasonable grounds to believe” Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity tied to the Gaza campaign, and issued a warrant on that basis in November 2024. That is a finding, not a conviction — Netanyahu has not been tried, and the warrant accuses him; it does not establish his guilt.
But the legal reality is narrower than the rhetoric. The United States does not recognize ICC jurisdiction over Israeli nationals, a federal statute bars local governments from cooperating with the court, and even Hungary — an actual ICC member state legally obligated to arrest Netanyahu on entry — did not arrest him when he visited Budapest in April 2025.
- Nov. 21, 2024 — date the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I found reasonable grounds to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
- 0 — arrests carried out on that warrant to date — including by Hungary, an actual ICC member state, during Netanyahu's April 2025 Budapest visit
- 2002 — year Congress passed the American Servicemembers' Protection Act, barring US courts and local governments from cooperating with the ICC
- Dec. 18, 2025 — date Secretary of State Marco Rubio's State Department sanctioned ICC judges and prosecutors over the Netanyahu and Gallant warrants — per Politico
- Oct. 8, 2023–May 20, 2024 — the conduct window covered by the ICC's charges against Netanyahu — the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity
Mamdani made the remarks to host Lulu Garcia-Navarro on an episode titled “Where Does Zohran Mamdani Go From Here?” He was direct about what he believes and more careful about what he says he will actually do: “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 that his administration is having “an active conversation with our legal department” about the question, and framed the constraint as a matter of principle: “I believe that there is an importance in following the law as a leader who presides over our city.”
I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague... a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court.
None of this is new. Mamdani made a version of this pledge throughout his mayoral campaign, telling Fox News’ Martha MacCallum in an October 2025 interview that “this is a city that believes international law, and this is a city that wants to uplift and uphold those beliefs,” while insisting he would not go beyond existing authority: “I’m going to exhaust every legal option in front of me, not to make new laws to do so.” He was elected mayor on November 4, 2025 and took office January 1, 2026. What changed in July is that the pledge is now coming from a sitting mayor with an actual Law Department to consult, rather than a candidate.
Mamdani called Netanyahu 'a war criminal whose place is in The Hague' — but when pressed on whether he'd actually order an arrest, he avoided a direct answer.
The document Mamdani is invoking is specific. On November 21, 2024, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, covering alleged conduct from October 8, 2023 through at least May 20, 2024. The warrant accuses Netanyahu of the war crime of “starvation as a method of warfare” and crimes against humanity including “murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts,” on a theory of command and superior responsibility for directing attacks against the civilian population in Gaza. That is a Pre-Trial Chamber finding of reasonable grounds to proceed — not a trial verdict, and not a conviction.
Netanyahu has said he still plans to travel to New York in September 2026 to address the UN General Assembly, warrant or no warrant — a plan that will put this legal question to an actual test rather than leaving it hypothetical.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, on Netanyahu: '...he belongs in the Hague.'
The United States never ratified the Rome Statute and does not recognize ICC jurisdiction over Israeli nationals. Congress went further in 2002, passing the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act, which bars “any agency or entity of any State or local government, including any court,” from cooperating with the ICC. On December 18, 2025, Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s State Department sanctioned ICC judges and prosecutors “supporting illegitimate ICC actions against Israel, including… the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant” — the federal government going on record against the very warrant Mamdani wants New York City to enforce.
“The New York City mayor does not have the power to do that. I do not agree with that assessment.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) · Dec. 5, 2025
Legal scholars describe a mayor as simply the wrong office to act on this. Syracuse University law professor Cora True-Frost said “foreign affairs and policy are the exclusive power of the federal government, and this administration would almost certainly claim head of state immunity for Netanyahu.” She noted the ICC question is not entirely closed — “that the US is not a party to the ICC does not in itself preclude Americans from cooperating with the ICC, though this administration is hostile towards it and has sanctioned ICC staff” — but added that a UN visit specifically would add another layer: “the Convention on Privileges and Immunities and the UN Headquarters Agreement which protect visiting diplomats from arrest would further constrain Mamdani’s ability to make good on this threat.” Columbia Law School’s Matthew C. Waxman was blunter: “This isn’t even a close call. In my mind, this statement is more a political stunt than a serious law-enforcement policy.”
This isn't new — Mamdani made the same pledge about arresting Netanyahu during his mayoral campaign, months before he ever took office.
The clearest test case for what Mamdani is proposing already happened — and it wasn’t in New York. Hungary is an actual ICC member state, legally obligated under the Rome Statute to arrest Netanyahu the moment he entered its territory. When he visited Budapest in April 2025, Hungarian authorities did not arrest him. Instead, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán used the visit to announce Hungary’s withdrawal from the ICC. If a full member of the court, with a binding treaty obligation, chose not to act on the warrant, a non-member US city government — barred by federal statute from cooperating with the court at all — starts from a considerably weaker position.
Israeli officials have responded with more anger than legal argument. UN Ambassador Danny Danon said Mamdani “has failed at managing New York, and instead of fulfilling his role as mayor and fighting the rising wave of antisemitism in his city, he chooses to engage in incitement and generate headlines through attacks against the State of Israel,” adding: “if someone needs to be arrested — it’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani.” Israeli Consul-General Ofir Akunis said Mamdani has “no authority” to call for Netanyahu’s arrest. Netanyahu himself, in a radio interview with Sid Rosenberg, said Mamdani “secretly hates America” and asked, “Who does he champion? Hamas, that calls openly to massacre every Jew on Earth.”
...if anyone should be arrested, it is Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
This isn’t the first time Mamdani’s ICC pledge has drawn Republican fire. Back in September 2025, when it was still a campaign promise, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) called it “dangerous and absolutely outrageous” and demanded Governor Hochul condemn it. Hochul has since done exactly that, on the record, without endorsing the underlying idea that a mayor could act at all.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) — Democratic Socialist-aligned NYC mayor; renewed his campaign-era pledge on the July 18 NYT podcast.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) — says the mayor lacks the power to act on the warrant.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) — called the original pledge “dangerous and absolutely outrageous.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio — sanctioned ICC judges and prosecutors over the Netanyahu and Gallant warrants in December 2025.
Benjamin Netanyahu — Israeli Prime Minister; under an ICC arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity, not convicted of any crime; plans to attend the UN General Assembly in September 2026.
Danny Danon & Ofir Akunis — Israel’s UN Ambassador and NY Consul-General, both say Mamdani has no authority to act.
No comparable prior instance is documented of a US mayor threatening to direct police to execute an ICC warrant against a sitting foreign head of government. Whether Mamdani’s pledge is tested at all depends on Netanyahu actually following through on the September UN trip — and on questions of head-of-state immunity, UN headquarters protections, and federal preemption that every legal scholar quoted here says point the same direction.
Mamdani’s claim about Netanyahu rests on a real ICC warrant — an accusation, not a conviction. But the power to enforce it doesn’t rest with a mayor: the US doesn’t recognize ICC jurisdiction over Israeli nationals, federal law bars local cooperation with the court, Washington has sanctioned the ICC officials behind the warrant, and even Hungary — a country actually bound by the treaty — let Netanyahu walk. If Netanyahu comes to New York in September as planned, this fight moves from a podcast to a test almost every legal scholar in this story expects the mayor to lose.
