Netanyahu Says He Will Attend UN General Assembly in New York Despite Mamdani's Arrest Calls

Netanyahu confirms he's coming to New York in September

Benjamin Netanyahu isn't backing down. In a Tuesday interview with Sean Hannity following his White House meeting with President Trump, the Israeli prime minister said flatly: "I'm going to New York." That's a direct answer to weeks of pressure from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has repeatedly called for Netanyahu's arrest if he sets foot in the city.

Netanyahu will be in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, which convenes in September. He told Hannity he intends to "speak the truth in front of this hate-spewing elected official who's pitting one group of New Yorkers against the others," referring to Mamdani directly.

Where the arrest threat actually stands

The International Criminal Court issued a warrant against Netanyahu tied to Israel's military campaign in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, according to Fox News. Mamdani has called Netanyahu a "war criminal" and "the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people."

New York City has no legal authority to execute an ICC warrant. The United States isn't even an ICC member state and doesn't recognize its jurisdiction over American allies. Mamdani has walked back his own campaign rhetoric on this point, according to Fox News, admitting city officials can't make the arrest and instead calling on federal authorities to act.

A mayor threatening an arrest his own government has no power to carry out is a political statement, not a legal one. Whether that statement is fair commentary on Israel's conduct in Gaza, or reckless rhetoric aimed at a sitting head of government, is where the real disagreement lives.

Netanyahu's counterattack on the ICC

Netanyahu didn't just defend himself. He went after the court itself, calling it a "corrupt, evil organization" and asking why Hamas leadership hasn't faced the same scrutiny. "They don't charge Hezbollah," he told Hannity. "Supposedly, they charged Hamas, but a guy who's already dead. So no, it's fake. It's one big fake."

The ICC has in fact issued warrants tied to Hamas figures, though enforcement against a terror organization operating outside any state structure is a different practical problem than pursuing a sitting prime minister of a US-allied democracy. Reasonable people can view the court's track record as either selectively harsh on Israel or simply constrained by which governments cooperate with it. Both critiques deserve to be weighed.

The rhetoric escalates on both sides

Netanyahu compared the current climate to the 1930s, saying "so much hate, so many lies" are being directed at Israel and, by extension, New York's Jewish community. That's Netanyahu's characterization of Mamdani's rhetoric.

Former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has joined Mamdani in calling for Netanyahu's arrest, according to Fox News, giving the mayor's position some institutional backing beyond his own office. Meanwhile, President Trump has criticized Israel's continued strikes in Lebanon, saying "too many people are being killed," a rare public break from Trump with Netanyahu that surfaced during Tuesday's Oval Office meeting.

What happens in September

Nothing here is settled. Netanyahu has stated his intent to attend the UN General Assembly; he has not yet arrived, and no formal security or diplomatic arrangements for that visit have been detailed publicly. No US federal action on the ICC warrant has been announced, and none appears imminent given Washington's non-recognition of the court's authority over Israeli officials.

The open question is what, if anything, happens when Netanyahu actually lands in New York. Federal law enforcement has never signaled willingness to act on an ICC warrant against an Israeli head of government, and nothing in Mamdani's own statements suggests he expects them to. This may end up exactly where the mayor's rhetoric started: a political fight with no legal teeth, playing out in front of cameras in September.