As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to arrive in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, calls are growing for his arrest based on the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court.
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New York City Mayor Zahran Mamdani pledged during his election campaign last year that if Netanyahu sets foot in the city, he will find himself handcuffed in compliance with the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant, which accuses him of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.
But Mamdani backtracked on that pledge after taking office as mayor, saying earlier in the summer that New York did not have the “independent legal authority” to enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant, adding that Netanyahu should nevertheless be “arrested and prosecuted” by the U.S. federal government.
According to a report published by Common Dreams, Netanyahu said in the days leading up to his expected short visit to New York that he intended to address Mamdani during his speech to the General Assembly, accusing him of supporting Hamas and inciting riots against Jews in New York.
Netanyahu said: “I am coming to the United Nations. I will tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I will tell the truth about you.”
he had been clear about his vision of the world and that he owed the people of New York to be honest, adding that he had described Netanyahu as a “war criminal and the architect of a horrific genocide of the Palestinian people.”
Regarding the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, Mamdani reiterated that it is “something that should be respected,” noting the need to establish trust in the policy and accountability.
In a YouGov poll in July, 49% of Americans said they believed the US government should arrest Netanyahu under the warrant, while 27% said he should not be arrested, and 23% were undecided.
US President Donald Trump had said earlier this summer that Netanyahu “will not be arrested in any way” during his visit to the United States. His administration’s policy, as outlined in an executive order issued in February 2025, states that Netanyahu cannot be arrested, arguing that the International Criminal Court “has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel,” since neither is a party to the Rome Statute that established the court.
US laws may allow prosecution
In its report, Common Dreams cited the opinion of Jake Rom, legal advisor to the Hind Rajab Foundation, who said in an article published in The Nation that the International Criminal Court warrant is not the only tool the United States can use to hold Netanyahu accountable, even if it cannot be enforced on American soil.
Rom pointed to two federal criminal laws, the War Crimes Act and the Genocide Act, and said they incorporate “important international instruments into U.S. law,” including the Geneva Conventions governing the laws of war and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
He added that the two laws give the United States the authority to consider allegations of war crimes or genocide "regardless of where the crimes were committed," when the suspect is physically present in the United States, or when the crimes were committed against American citizens.
Rom acknowledged that Netanyahu enjoys protection from arrest during his official visit to the United Nations, and that sitting heads of government generally enjoy immunity before national courts, but he said that this protection does not, in his view, negate the United States’ fundamental authority to prosecute him under federal war crimes and genocide laws.
Common Dreams quoted Rom as saying that the United States “has the ability to arrest Netanyahu for crimes under U.S. law and try him in U.S. courts,” adding that the emphasis on this is intended to clarify that the United States, in his opinion, has the ability and the obligation to pursue Netanyahu and others accused of committing crimes in Palestine and southern Lebanon.
Criticism of the United Nations' role
Criticism isn't limited to the United States for allowing Netanyahu to travel freely despite the arrest warrant. Emma Fourou, a French member of the European Parliament, accused the French government of "violating international law" after granting Netanyahu's plane permission to cross French airspace en route to New York.
Craig Makhyper, a former UN human rights official, also criticized allowing Netanyahu to access UN headquarters and address the General Assembly without hindrance.
Common Dreams said that Mukhaiber considered allowing Netanyahu to enter the United Nations headquarters, deliver his speech, and be received as an important guest, instead of dealing with him as someone responsible for war crimes, as one of the aspects of the international organization’s failure to deal with what is happening in Gaza.
Mkhaiber pointed out that the United Nations General Assembly did not withdraw Israel’s accreditation, as it did in the case of South Africa during the apartheid era, and he also criticized other United Nations positions regarding the war in Gaza.
Mkhaiber said that those responsible for the crimes, as he described them, are not content with “walking among us,” but rather “ruling us,” calling for holding those responsible and complicit accountable and ensuring that they do not escape accountability.
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