New York City Mayor Zahran Mamdani announced that he does not have the authority to enforce the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mamdani placed the responsibility for enforcing the warrant on the federal government.
The Democratic mayor said in a video posted on social media on Tuesday, "It is clear that we do not have independent legal authority to enforce this warrant." Mamdani had previously described Netanyahu as a "war criminal" in an interview with the New York Times and said that city lawyers were examining the possibility of arresting the Israeli leader if he visited New York for the UN General Assembly in September.
US laws block enforcement
Independent legal experts speaking to Reuters confirmed that Mamdani does not have the authority to arrest Netanyahu. The experts stressed that the US generally grants immunity to heads of state and UN representatives, and that Washington is not a member of the ICC.
Harvard Law School Professor Alex Whiting said that because the US is not an ICC member, there is no mechanism in American law to enforce the court's arrest warrants. Whiting also noted that the "American Service-Members' Protection Act" of 2002 explicitly prohibits the transfer of anyone to the ICC, regardless of citizenship.
Cardozo Law School Professor Rebecca Ingber stated that sitting heads of government like Netanyahu generally have immunity from arrest and prosecution in American courts. Ingber added that representatives of UN member states also enjoy this immunity when traveling to and from the organization's meetings.
ICC decision and Trump's statement
The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 over alleged war crimes committed during the Gaza war.
In his video, Mamdani called on the federal government to enforce the arrest warrant. However, Whiting noted that the US would first need to join the ICC and repeal the Service-Members' Protection Act, and that the immunity agreement between the UN and the US would also pose an obstacle.
Meanwhile, Republican US President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Monday that Netanyahu would not be arrested while in the US. Mamdani had made similar statements ahead of the mayoral election on November 4, 2025.
