NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) – New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani \u2060said \u2060this week that he had determined he \u2060lacked the legal authority to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested for alleged war \u200bcrimes should he visit the largest U.S. city, after earlier saying he was considering the move.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mamdani did not elaborate on how he had \u200creached that determination. Independent legal experts told \u200cReuters that Mamdani lacked authority to have Netanyahu arrested because the U.S. generally recognizes immunity for heads of state and United \u2060Nations representatives, and \u2060because Washington is not a member of the International Criminal Court.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here is a look \u200bat the legal issues:\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHY DOES MAMDANI WANT NETANYAHU ARRESTED?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a New York Times interview broadcast \u200bon Saturday, Mamdani called Netanyahu a “war criminal” and said the city’s legal department was actively considering whether the law would \u2060allow \u2060his arrest should Netanyahu visit \u2060New York for the \u200bUnited Nations General Assembly in September.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mamdani, a Democrat, had made similar remarks while campaigning for mayor ahead of the \u200bNovember 4, 2025, election.<\/p>\n
In a video posted \u2060to social media on Tuesday night, Mamdani said he had concluded he had no such authority.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant,” Mamdani said.<\/p>\n
Neither Mamdani’s office nor Israel’s embassy in Washington immediately responded to requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Experts in international law said there were multiple reasons that Mamdani could not order Netanyahu’s arrest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the \u2060United States is not a member of the ICC, there is no mechanism under U.S. law to \u2060enforce the Hague-based court’s arrest warrants, said Alexander Whiting, a professor at Harvard Law School and a former ICC prosecutor and Justice Department official.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Additionally, a 2002 U.S. law called the American Service-Members Protection Act specifically prohibits the U.S. from extraditing anyone, regardless of their nationality, to the ICC, said Whiting.<\/p>\n
Sitting heads of government like Netanyahu are also generally immune from arrest and prosecution in U.S. courts, and representatives of U.N. member states have legal immunity while transiting to and from a U.N. meeting, said Rebecca Ingber, a professor at Cardozo Law School and former U.S. State Department lawyer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
CAN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ARREST NETANYAHU?\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his video, Mamdani called on the federal government to execute the \u2060warrant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In order for the federal government to arrest Netanyahu, the U.S. would first need to join the ICC and repeal the American Service-Members Protection Act, Whiting said. Even then, the agreement between the U.N. and the U.S. conferring immunity on U.N. representatives would still be an obstacle, Whiting said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, said in a \u200bsocial media post on Monday that Netanyahu would not be arrested while in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n
(Reporting \u200bby Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis)<\/p>\n
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