New York Mayor Zahran Mamdani announced that he does not have the authority to enforce the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a video posted on social media on Tuesday, Mamdani said, "It is clear that we do not have independent legal authority to enforce this decision."
The Democratic mayor had previously described Netanyahu as a "war criminal" in an interview with The New York Times, and said that the city's law department was seriously examining whether the Israeli leader could be arrested if he visited New York for the UN General Assembly in September.
ICC arrest warrant
The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 over alleged war crimes committed during the Gaza war.
Mamdani had made similar statements ahead of the mayoral election on November 4, 2025.
Legal obstacles
Independent legal experts speaking to Reuters stated that Mamdani does not have the authority to arrest Netanyahu, because the US generally grants immunity to heads of state and UN representatives, and Washington is not a member of the ICC.
Professor Alex Whiting of Harvard Law School said that because the US is not an ICC member, there is no mechanism in American law to enforce the court's arrest warrants.
Whiting also emphasized that the "American Service-Members' Protection Act" enacted in 2002 explicitly prohibits the surrender of any person to the ICC, regardless of citizenship.
Professor Rebecca Ingber of Cardozo Law School stated that sitting heads of government like Netanyahu generally have immunity from arrest and prosecution in American courts. Ingber added that representatives of UN member states also enjoy this immunity when traveling to and from the organization's meetings.
What can the federal government do?
In his video, Mamdani called on the federal government to enforce the arrest warrant. However, Whiting noted that the US would first need to join the ICC and repeal the Service-Members' Protection Act, and that the immunity agreement between the UN and the US would also pose an obstacle.
Meanwhile, Republican US President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Monday that Netanyahu would not be arrested while in the United States.
