New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who previously promised to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he visited the city, now says he does not have the “authority” to do so.

In a video posted on social media, Mamdani called on US officials to act on the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister for alleged war crimes.

Technically, if Netanyahu set foot in an ICC member state, he could be arrested and handed over to court, but the United States is not a member of the ICC.

President Donald Trump has said Netanyahu would not be “arrested, in any way, shape or form” while in the United States.

“He is fighting the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protesters. [sic]and has spent the last 47 years killing American soldiers and others,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday.

Trump was responding to comments Mamdani made in an interview with the New York Times on Saturday, in which the mayor said he was having “an active conversation” with authorities about the possibility of enforcing the ICC arrest warrant.

On Tuesday, Mamdani said his team had reviewed “all available avenues” under the law and concluded that “we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this.”

“The federal government, however, does,” Mamdani said. “And I ask you to join the ICC and execute this order.”

Mamdani said in the social media video that Netanyahu was “not welcome” in New York City, where he is expected to travel in September for the U.N. General Assembly.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 for alleged war crimes in Gaza, while also issuing an arrest warrant for a Hamas commander.

The ICC has the authority to prosecute those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes on the territory of States party to the Rome Statute, its founding treaty.

“I think Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mamdani said during his New York Times interview, referring to the UN International Court of Justice. “He is a war criminal indicted by the International Criminal Court.”

During his campaign for mayor of New York City, Mamdani repeatedly called Netanyahu a war criminal and called the war in Gaza a genocide.

His comments come as Democratic voters’ support for Israel appears to be shifting, according to a recent poll. , externalsuggesting that 58% of Democrats believe the United States is too supportive of Israel, up from 45% in 2024.

In response to Mamdani’s interview, Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, told the mayor: “You were elected to serve New Yorkers, not Hamas propaganda.”