US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz delivered a blunt public rebuke to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Saturday, dismissing as “pure political theatre” the mayor’s renewed threat to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested when he arrives in the city for September’s UN General Assembly.
Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said Saturday that Mamdani’s threat to arrest Netanyahu during his visit to New York “is not going to happen,” laying out a detailed legal rebuttal to the mayor’s position. “Mayor Mamdani. Here’s why your threat to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu’s in New York City during the UN General Assembly is not going to happen,” Waltz wrote, adding, “the United States is not party to the Rome Statute that underlies the International Criminal Court.
The UN Headquarters Agreement grants diplomatic protections to visiting heads of government. Head-of-state immunity applies, and federal authority trumps any local mayor’s wishes.” A statement accompanying his remarks described Mamdani’s position as “pure political theatre.”
What Mamdani Actually Said
The confrontation stems from remarks Mamdani made this week on the New York Times podcast “The Interview” with host Lulu Garcia-Navarro. “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in the Hague,” Mamdani said, referring to the International Criminal Court’s seat.
“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court.” Mamdani said his administration was in “an active conversation” with New York City’s Law Department to determine whether he has legal authority to direct the NYPD to detain Netanyahu should the Israeli leader attend the General Assembly session in September. He was careful, however, to frame any action as constrained by existing law rather than an attempt to invent new authority. “Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do,” Mamdani said.
A Position With A Long History
Mamdani’s stance is not new. He first vowed during his 2025 mayoral campaign to direct the NYPD to enforce International Criminal Court warrants against foreign leaders, including both Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing the ICC’s November 2024 warrant accusing Netanyahu of intentionally attacking civilians and using starvation as a method of warfare during the war in Gaza.
Pressed on the matter by Fox News host Martha MacCallum during the campaign, Mamdani acknowledged the United States never signed the treaty establishing the court, but maintained his position regardless.
“I’ve said that I believe that we should uphold arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court and that we would… do so only in abiding with all of the laws in front of us,” he said, adding that he would not “make a new law” to enable an arrest. After winning office, he doubled down in a September 2025 interview with the Times, telling the paper flatly, “this is something that I intend to fulfil.”
Those comments have already drawn a legislative response in Washington. Representative Elise Stefanik introduced the Sovereign Enforcement Integrity Act specifically to bar local law enforcement from executing ICC warrants absent federal authorisation, a direct reaction to Mamdani’s repeated pledges.
Outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams took a starkly different approach during the transition, travelling to Israel to meet Netanyahu and encouraging him to attend Mamdani’s January inauguration, while warning pointedly from Tel Aviv, “if I were a Jewish New Yorker, I’d be concerned about my children.”
Legal Hurdles Stand In Mamdani’s Way
Legal experts and officials have repeatedly noted that any attempt by city authorities to detain Netanyahu would run into significant obstacles. Israel is not a member of the ICC and rejects both the war crimes allegations and the court’s jurisdiction over its officials. Because the United States has never ratified the Rome Statute, it does not recognise the ICC’s authority, and a separate federal law bars imprisonment or obstruction of visiting foreign officials, including sitting heads of state.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has previously said publicly that the mayor lacks the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu, a position echoed by Waltz’s Saturday statement invoking the UN Headquarters Agreement’s diplomatic protections for visiting government leaders.
Public opinion in the city also appears to cut against Mamdani’s position. A survey conducted by the Forward found only 36 per cent of New York City voters support enforcing the ICC warrant against Netanyahu, while 45 per cent oppose it.
Israeli And Jewish Community Reaction
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, responded sharply to Mamdani’s comments, turning the mayor’s own rhetoric back on him. “If anyone should be arrested, it is New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani,” Danon said. “Mamdani is failing to govern New York. Instead of focusing on his responsibilities as mayor and confronting the rising wave of antisemitism in his city, he has chosen to incite hostility and generate headlines by attacking the State of Israel.”
Danon added that the mayor’s stance would have no practical effect: “It will not change a thing. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will come to New York, address the United Nations General Assembly with pride and stand before the world to state Israel’s truth and its unwavering right to defend its citizens.”
Mark Treyger, chief executive of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, argued Mamdani’s focus was misplaced entirely. “New Yorkers elected a mayor to make our city safer, stronger and more affordable,” Treyger said. “Not to conduct foreign policy,” adding that Mamdani “should be in active conversations about raising pay for New York City’s paraprofessionals, early childhood educators, EMS workers and other essential city workers whose futures are directly within the city’s responsibility.”
What Happens When Netanyahu Arrives
With the General Assembly scheduled for early September, the dispute is likely to remain a flashpoint through the summer even though the underlying legal question appears largely settled against Mamdani’s position. US President Trump previously condemned Mamdani’s arrest threats as “inappropriate” during the mayoral campaign and indicated he would personally intervene should Mamdani attempt to follow through, though he has not yet commented on the mayor’s most recent remarks.
For now, Netanyahu’s office has given no indication his planned UN address will be altered, leaving Mamdani’s threat to test itself against the same legal barriers officials have been citing for months.
