Mamdani Wants to Arrest Netanyahu – Stop him!

As someone who was once taken hostage by terrorists, I have a low tolerance for people who casually discuss detaining others outside the law.

That is why I was alarmed to learn that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has revived his pledge to seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he arrive in New York for this September’s United Nations General Assembly. Mamdani has acknowledged that his administration is actively exploring what legal options might exist if Netanyahu visits the city.

The irony is hard to miss.

Every September, New York becomes the diplomatic capital of the world. Presidents, prime ministers, kings, dictators, revolutionaries, and strongmen all pass through its streets on their way to the United Nations. The city has hosted some of the most controversial leaders on earth, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Muammar Gaddafi, Hugo Chávez, Ebrahim Raisi, and Omar al-Bashir.

They came.

They spoke.

They left.

The United States allowed them entry because America is the host of the United Nations and because the United States is not obligated to enforce International Criminal Court warrants.

Yet Mamdani appears willing to single out the democratically elected leader of the world’s only Jewish state.

The mayor bases his position on the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu. The ICC claims there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the Gaza war.

Reasonable grounds.

Not a conviction.

Not even a trial.

An accusation.

Yet on the basis of that accusation, the mayor of New York is exploring whether he can detain a visiting head of government.

That should concern every American, regardless of politics.

The federal government, not City Hall, conducts American foreign policy. The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute. New York City is not an arm of the International Criminal Court. If the mayor attempts to detain a visiting foreign leader without lawful authority, the legal, diplomatic, and financial consequences could be enormous.

But there is another reason I find this so troubling.

Before October 7, Hamas openly declared its intentions. Many dismissed those statements as propaganda, bluster, or political theater.

Then came the massacre.

More than 1,200 people were murdered. Another 251 were dragged into Gaza as hostages.

I learned long ago that threats should not always be dismissed simply because they sound outrageous.

That is why Mamdani’s statements deserve to be taken seriously.

As a former hostage, I know what it means to lose your freedom at the hands of those who believe they are entitled to take it. No person, whether an ordinary citizen or the Prime Minister of Israel, should submit to unlawful detention.

If any attempt is made to unlawfully seize Prime Minister Netanyahu while he is in New York, I would expect his security team to use every lawful measure necessary to protect him and prevent that detention from occurring.

Mayor Mamdani should abandon this reckless idea now, before rhetoric turns into action.