As New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani continued to go public with his fantasy of arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump on Monday popped that balloon.
“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others,” Trump wrote.
“The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented SPIRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION, something that should have been dealt with years ago, by previous Presidents!”
Last week, Mamdani, who boosted his standing among anti-Israel zealots in the Big Apple during his campaign by making the arrest of Netanyahu a campaign promise, said he still hopes to make that happen.
Critics slam Mamdani for threatening to arrest Netanyahu in NYC: ‘Delusional’ and ‘reckless’ https://t.co/e0yLCr4P2O pic.twitter.com/tBVTkGttu6
— New York Post (@nypost) July 19, 2026
“I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani told The New York Times, in a report published Saturday. The Hague, in the Netherlands, is the seat of the United Nations’ International Court.
The ICC has an arrest warrant for Netanyahu related to Israel’s war against the Hamas terrorist organization since the Hamas-led massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani said. “And what you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many, purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.”
Mamdani has been slapped twice in recent months for trying to deal with foreign leaders, but remains fixed on the question of arresting Netanyahu.
He said he was in “an active conversation” with the city’s Law Department about arresting Israel’s leader.
“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do, but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end,” Mamdani told The New York Times.
Netanyahu recently brushed aside the threat.
The Prime Minister’s Office:
The ICC is a kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis. Its bogus arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu was issued by a disgraced former ICC Prosecutor, Karim Khan, a few days before allegations of sexual misconduct…
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 19, 2026
“I think he should look at who he’s condemning, who he’s praising,” he said during a radio interview, The New York Times reported.
“He’s condemning Israel, the one democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values.
“Who does he champion? Hamas, that calls openly to massacre every Jew on earth, that conducted that horrible massacre, the worst massacre on Jews since the Holocaust,” Netanyahu said.
Mamdani “doesn’t care” that “those who hate the Jews and Israel ultimately hate America,” he said. “And, in fact, I think, secretly, he hates America.”
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, accused Mamdani of tuning out the rise of anti-Semitism in New York City.
“Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will come to New York, address the United Nations General Assembly with pride, and stand before the world to state Israel’s truth and its unwavering right to defend its citizens,” Danon said, according to The New York Times.
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