U.S. President Donald Trump has declared that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested during any future visit to the United States, following comments by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who said his administration was exploring whether such a move would be legally possible.
“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, under any circumstances, while he is in the United States of America,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Although Trump did not mention Mamdani by name, he praised Israel’s role in the conflict with Iran and dismissed any suggestion that Netanyahu could face arrest on U.S. soil.
The debate emerged after Mamdani said over the weekend that his administration was reviewing whether New York authorities had the legal authority to detain Netanyahu if he visits the city in September to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
“I believe Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said, referring to the seat of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024.
Mamdani described Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and said he was consulting with the city’s legal department to determine whether he had the authority to instruct the New York Police Department (NYPD) to arrest a foreign head of government.
“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York, we will do,” Mamdani said, according to The Guardian.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israel’s former defense minister, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the war in Gaza, including the alleged use of starvation as a method of warfare and other serious violations. Israel has strongly rejected the allegations.
