New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) has announced that he is reviewing whether his administration could arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly this fall.

In an interview on the July 18th, 2026 episode of The New York Times’ “The Interview” podcast with Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Mamdani stated, “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court, and what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these past many years.”

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest in 2024, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine, including "starvation as a method of warfare" and other inhumane acts.

Mamdani, who has described the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza as genocide, previously told The New York Times during his mayoral campaign that he would direct the city’s police to arrest Netanyahu if he came to New York.

Netanyahu dismissed the threat in a recent radio interview with WABC host Sid Rosenberg, accusing Mamdani of supporting Hamas and stating, “He’s with the terror actors. And I think the problem is that he doesn’t recognize and he doesn’t care that those who hate the Jews and Israel ultimately hate America.”

World leaders from United Nations member states are expected to travel to New York City in September for the annual UN General Assembly session, an event Netanyahu has frequently attended in the past.

Mamdani emphasized, “We’re not talking about a personal assessment of Benjamin Netanyahu. We’re talking about the International Criminal Court and the fact that they have a warrant out for this prime minister’s arrest, and I think it’s important to talk about the weight that that has as a charge and that also, as the mayor of New York City, I’ll be following the laws of New York City.”