New York City’s Mayor Zohran Mamdan speaks as workers from different industries gather at Washington Square Park for the May Day rally, and march to Foley Square, demanding workers’ rights, economic justice, world peace, major policy changes, and taxing the rich, on Friday, May 1, 2026, in New York City, U.S. [Selçuk Acar – Anadolu Agency]
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Saturday said that his administration is reviewing whether it has the legal authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city for the UN General Assembly in September, according to The New York Times, Anadolu reports.
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said on The New York Times’ The Interview podcast with Lulu Garcia-Navarro. “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court.”
Mamdani said he was in “an active conversation” with the New York City Law Department over whether he has the authority to direct the New York Police Department to detain a foreign leader.
“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do, but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end,” he said.
