New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has backed away from an earlier pledge to have Benjamin Netanyahu arrested should the Israeli prime minister visit the city, saying he lacks the legal authority to do so. Instead, he is urging US federal officials to act on the International Criminal Court's outstanding arrest warrant against Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, though the US is not an ICC member and President Donald Trump has said Netanyahu will not be arrested "in any way, shape or form" while in the country.

Mamdani made the reversal in a social media video after his team reviewed "every avenue available" under the law, concluding they lacked independent power to enforce the 2024 ICC warrant, and calling instead for the federal government to join the ICC and execute it. He said Netanyahu remains "not welcome" in New York, where the Israeli leader is expected to attend the UN General Assembly in September. The dispute follows Mamdani telling the New York Times that Netanyahu "belongs in The Hague" and is a "war criminal", prompting a sharp rebuke from Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon, and comes amid polling showing 58% of Democrats now believe the US is too supportive of Israel, up from 45% in 2024.