U.S. The ICC issued a 2024 warrant for Netanyahu over Gaza war crimes, but the U.S. and Israel reject the court’s jurisdiction.
U.S. President Donald Trump declared on July 20, 2026, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form
during a U.S. visit, directly countering New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s public contemplation of enforcing an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. The statement came as Mamdani, who has framed Netanyahu as a “war criminal,” continued discussions with New York’s legal department about potential actions should Netanyahu attend the UN General Assembly in September.
Trump’s Assurance and Israel’s Rebuttal
Trump’s assertion, made via a Truth Social post, echoed his longstanding defense of Netanyahu, whom he credited with aiding U.S. efforts against Iran. He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors,
Trump wrote, shifting focus to Iran’s alleged actions. The president’s post did not explicitly reference Mamdani but underscored a broader administration stance against ICC jurisdiction over U.S. or Israeli citizens.
Israel’s response was swift. The prime minister’s office dismissed the ICC as a “kangaroo court” and called the 2024 arrest warrant “bogus,” citing the involvement of a former prosecutor, Karim Khan, whose credibility was undermined by sexual misconduct allegations. A statement published on X (formerly Twitter) accused Mamdani of diverting public attention from his follies
and criticized the mayor for targeting Israel’s leader, whom it described as the only democracy in the Middle East.
Mamdani’s Legal Dilemma
Mamdani, who took office in January, has consistently framed his stance on Netanyahu as a matter of upholding international law. In a June 2026 interview with The New York Times’ “The Interview” podcast, he 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.
The mayor’s office confirmed it is in an active conversation
with New York City’s Law Department about the legal boundaries of detaining a foreign leader, though Mamdani emphasized, We won’t be writing our own laws to that end.
For more on this story, see Netanyahu to Face NYC Arrest Over ICC War Crimes.
The ICC’s 2024 warrant alleges Netanyahu is responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population
in Gaza, along with crimes against humanity from October 2023 to May 2024. Israel has consistently rejected these charges, with the government asserting that the ICC lacks jurisdiction over its citizens. The court, established in 2002, has no enforceable power over non-member states like the U.S. and Israel.
The Broader Political Context
Mamdani’s position reflects a broader political tension between local officials and federal authority. During his mayoral campaign, he pledged to arrest Netanyahu if he visited New York, a vow he has not rescinded. However, the legal feasibility of such an action remains uncertain. New York City’s police department, which Mamdani oversees, would need explicit legal guidance from the city’s Law Department to act against a foreign leader.
The situation also highlights the administration’s ongoing efforts to undermine the ICC. The U.S. has launched a campaign to try to disable the ICC, imposing sanctions on judges, prosecutors and groups that seek rulings against Israel over allegations of human rights violations. This aligns with the narrative that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis,
a claim echoed by Israel’s government.
For now, the conflict remains unresolved. Netanyahu traditionally travels to New York every September for the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly. Whether Mamdani will act on his stated intent—and whether Trump’s assurance will hold—depends on legal clarity, political pressure, and the evolving dynamics between New York, the federal government, and international law.
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