Netanyahu will not be arrested in US, Trump says, as New York mayor mulls options

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on July 20 that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested when he visits the US, after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was still considering the move.

“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” Trump wrote in a social media post that did not refer to the mayor’s comments.

The Hague-based International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 for alleged war crimes during the Gaza war. Israel rejects the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes.

Trump did not mention Mamdani in his Truth Social post, but credited Israel with helping in the Iran war.

The New York City mayor said in an interview broadcast on July 18 that the city’s legal department is actively considering what the law might allow.

“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani told a New York Times video podcast called The Interview.

Israel says ICC arrest warrant is ‘bogus’

Netanyahu traditionally travels to New York every September for the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly.

Israel responded to Mamdani’s comments on July 19 in an X post that called the ICC a kangaroo court and the arrest warrant against Netanyahu bogus.

“Mamdani appears interested in diverting public attention from his follies and attacking the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East,” it said.

The ICC was established in 2002 and has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The United States and Israel are not members of the court.

Mamdani, who took office in January, said during his mayoral campaign that he would have police arrest Netanyahu if he set foot in New York City.

In November, shortly after Mamdani’s election victory, the mayor-elect and Trump held an unexpectedly friendly meeting in the White House even though they had previously traded insults. REUTERS