New York City's mayoral office is quietly examining its legal options should Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travel to the city in September for the United Nations General Assembly, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has confirmed. Netanyahu is currently wanted under International Criminal Court arrest warrants over the war in Gaza, and Mamdani says his team is working through exactly what powers a city mayor actually holds if a wanted foreign leader arrives for a UN gathering that New York is legally bound to host.
Legal review already underway
Mamdani revealed that his administration has opened an internal review, working alongside the New York City Law Department, to map out the limits of what he can do if Netanyahu sets foot in the city. He made clear that any response would stay strictly within existing law rather than break new legal ground, saying his office intends to use only the powers the law already gives a New York City mayor and has no plans to invent fresh authority for the occasion. He described his ongoing talks with the city's legal advisers as an "active conversation" that is still unfolding.
'He belongs in The Hague'
Asked directly about the Israeli leader, Mamdani did not hold back. "I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague," he said, pointing to the ICC's outstanding warrants against Netanyahu. He went on to describe the Israeli premier as a war criminal already charged by the International Criminal Court, and argued that this view is shared by a large number of people around the world because of the consequences of Netanyahu's actions over the years.
Why the ICC issued the warrants
The mayor's comments trace back to arrest warrants the International Criminal Court issued for Netanyahu and Israel's former defence minister Yoav Gallant. The court's judges found reasonable grounds to believe both men bear criminal responsibility for using starvation as a method of warfare, tied to the tight restriction of food, water, fuel, medicine and electricity entering Gaza during Israel's military campaign there. The warrants also accuse the two of deliberately directing attacks at civilians, alongside broader crimes against humanity charges that include murder and persecution linked to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the territory. The court has said its conclusions rest on evidence investigators collected through May 2024.
What happens if Netanyahu comes to New York
None of this automatically bars Netanyahu from attending the UN General Assembly, since UN host-country obligations and international diplomatic protocol function separately from any single city's authority, and New York, as the seat of the United Nations, is generally required to allow accredited visiting dignitaries to attend UN sessions. That is precisely the grey area Mamdani's office is trying to sort out: how far a mayor's own jurisdiction actually stretches once a world leader wanted by the ICC sets foot on city soil for a UN event, even though the city itself has no formal role in the UN's own accreditation process. For now, Mamdani has left no doubt about where he stands personally, even as the legal specifics of what his office can and cannot do remain to be worked out before Netanyahu's potential September arrival.
