President Donald Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “will not be arrested” during his scheduled September visit to New York, signaling opposition to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s suggestion he could be detained. “Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or f orm, while in the United States of America. 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,” the president wrote Monday on TruthSocial. Mamdani, in a recent interview, refused to rule out attempting to arrest Netanyahu if he returns for the UN General Assembly. “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” Mamdani said in a New York Times video podcast called “The Interview,” which was posted Saturday. “I’ve also said that I will follow the laws that we have here in New York City because I believe that there is an importance in following the law as a leader who presides over our city, and that’s something that I plan to do.” When asked by Times journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro what the law allows Mamdani and the city to do, the mayor replied, “That’s an active conversation with our legal department in seeing what the prospects are we have here in our municipality.” On Sunday, Netanyahu reposted a statement from his office, which slammed both Mamdani and the ICC. “The ICC is a kangaroo court that has no jurisdiction over Americans or Israelis,” the statement started. “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 against him became public. It was a clear attempt by Khan to divert public attention and seek protection from scrutiny.” The Trump administration has brought sanctions against Khan, the court’s chief prosecutor, and a dozen other ICC staff in retaliation for warrants the court issued for top Israeli officials over the war in Gaza and investigations into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan. An investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Khan found he had engaged in “serious misconduct” and “serious breach of duty,” according to documents seen by The Associated Press in June. Turning to the mayor, the statement adds, “Instead of backing Khan’s criminal behaviour, Mr. Mamdani should focus on fixing the damage his policies have caused New York. Like Karim Khan, Mamdani appears interested in diverting public attention from his follies and attacking the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East.” Several former prosecutors say if Mayor Mamdani or any New York police official tried to arrest Netanyahu based on an ICC warrant, it would be a violation of U.S. federal law and they themselves could be charged with federal conspiracy crimes. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz condemned Mamdani’s unwillingness to reject the idea of arresting Netanyahu on New York City soil. “Mayor Mamdani: here’s why your threat to arrest PM Netanyahu’s in NYC during UNGA is not going to happen,” Waltz began a post on X Saturday. “1. The U.S. is not party to the Rome Statute that underlies the ICC, 2. The UN Headquarters Agreement grants diplomatic protections to visiting heads of gov’t, 3. head-of-state immunity applies, 4. federal authority trumps any local mayor’s wishes.” Waltz went on to call Mamdani’s comments “pure political theater.” As a candidate for mayor, Mamdani promised that if Netanyahu visited New York City, he would honor the ICC warrant and have Netanyahu arrested for war crimes. Israel has denied it engages in genocide or war crimes. The Associated Press contributed to this report. ...read more read less