NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Renews Call for Israeli PM Netanyahu’s Arrest Days Before U.N. Speech

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is doubling down on his demand that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 76, be arrested, just two days before the embattled leader is set to address the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, September 24.

“When it comes to Benjamin Netanyahu, I have described him as I believe him to be,” Mamdani, 34, told CNN on Monday, September 21. “A war criminal and an architect of a horrific genocide of the Palestinian people.”

The comment echoes a pledge Mamdani made on the campaign trail, when he vowed to have Netanyahu arrested if he came to New York City. But the mayor conceded he lacks the power to enforce it, acknowledging he doesn’t have the “authority to carry out the ICC’s (International Criminal Court) warrant” against the prime minister.

The ICC issued the warrant in November 2024, accusing him of war crimes. At the same time, they also issued a warrant on similar charges for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif.

Netanyahu didn’t let the mayor’s remarks slide. In a video posted to X on Tuesday, September 22, he tore into Mamdani directly.

“Shame on you, Mr. Mamdani, shame on you for supporting the Hamas terrorist monsters who butchered our people,” Netanyahu said, accusing the mayor of “inciting riots against New York Jews.”

He made clear he isn’t backing down from his own trip either. “I’m coming to the U.N.,” he continued. “I’m going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I’m going to tell the truth about you.”

It’s not the first time Netanyahu has painted Mamdani as sympathetic to Hamas, a characterization the mayor has consistently rejected. Last October 7, on the second anniversary of Hamas’s attack on southern Israel, Mamdani condemned the organization.

“Two years ago today, Hamas carried out a horrific war crime, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and kidnapping 250 more,” he said in a statement at the time, per CNN. “I mourn these lives and pray for the safe return of every hostage still held and for every family whose lives were torn apart by these atrocities.”

Still, critics haven’t let up. Some, such as the Israel Foreign Ministry, have branded him a “mouthpiece for Hamas.”