New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has publicly conceded that his administration possesses no independent legal authority to execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reversing a central campaign promise. In a video statement released on Tuesday, Mamdani said a review of all available legal avenues had concluded the city could not act, and he instead called on the federal government to “join the ICC and execute this warrant.” The statement came days after Mamdani told The New York Times he was in “active conversation” with the city’s law department about the possibility of detaining Netanyahu should he attend the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Mamdani’s video described Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and the “architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people,” citing the deaths of more than 73,000 Palestinians, the targeting of hospitals, and the blocking of humanitarian aid. The mayor declared Netanyahu “not welcome in New York City.” Netanyahu’s office dismissed the ICC as a “kangaroo court” with no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis, and accused Mamdani of diverting attention from his own governance failures. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, told the mayor to “stop with the blood libels” and focus on serving New Yorkers. Former prime minister Naftali Bennett and former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot also condemned the remarks, with Eisenkot calling them “pure antisemitism.”

Viewed from Washington, the legal and diplomatic obstacles to any local arrest are formidable. The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute and does not recognise the ICC’s jurisdiction. The American Servicemembers Protection Act of 2002 bars local law enforcement from cooperating with the court. Legal experts note that sitting heads of government enjoy immunity under customary international law, and the UN Headquarters Agreement grants diplomatic protections to visiting leaders. President Donald Trump reinforced this position on Monday, writing on Truth Social that Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.” The Trump administration has separately launched a campaign to “dismantle” the ICC, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio accusing the court of waging a lawfare campaign against US sovereignty.

The episode highlights the tension between the mayor’s left-wing Democratic base—which has made criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a defining issue—and the federal government’s steadfast alliance with Israel. Mamdani, a socialist who took office in January 2026, had pledged during his campaign to order the New York Police Department to arrest Netanyahu. His administration has also revoked the city’s adoption of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and rolled back an executive order barring discrimination against Israeli-linked businesses. Netanyahu is expected to travel to New York for the UN General Assembly in September. With the city unable to act and the White House opposed, the dossier remains closed at the municipal level, though the political fallout is likely to continue on both sides of the Atlantic.