New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Friday he has not ruled out ordering the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling the New York Times he is in “an active conversation” with the city’s Law Department over whether he holds the authority to act.
The consultation centers on the International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued against Netanyahu in November 2024, which the United States federal government has declined to enforce.
Mamdani did not say he would move to arrest Netanyahu, only that the legal question remained open and was being examined by city lawyers.
The mayor’s office did not confirm a timeline for any legal determination. No visit by Netanyahu to New York City is currently on the public schedule.
The question carries sharp diplomatic stakes. Federal law governs treaty obligations, and legal scholars contacted by the Wail said city-level arrest authority over a sitting foreign head of government would face immediate federal challenge.
The Law Department is expected to deliver a legal opinion to the mayor in the coming weeks, sources told the Wail. Any move by Mamdani would almost certainly trigger immediate court intervention.