Mamdani trying to arrest Netanyahu would give both men the exact headline they want

The New York City mayor likely can’t act on ICC warrant. But attempting to do so would bolster Mamdani’s left-wing political brand — and give Netanyahu an assist ahead of the election

When considering New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s largely empty threat to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if and when he comes to the Big Apple — and the Israeli leader’s defiant response — it’s worth considering statements the two politicians made in years past.

In 2023, Mamdani was speaking at a conference of the Democratic Socialists of America when he said, “The struggle for Palestinian liberation was at the core of my politics and continues to be.”

Four years earlier, in 2019, Netanyahu posted a meme on social media whose caption read: “They’re not just after me, they’re after us all. I’m just standing in their way.” Cribbing from a meme posted by US President Donald Trump, Netanyahu was referring to the criminal investigations he faced, and saying that he was actually being targeted for fighting on his supporters’ behalf.

These past comments offer some insight into the pair’s recent saber-rattling, as Netanyahu prepares to come to Manhattan in September to speak at the United Nations General Assembly.

Legal experts have noted that as a mayor, Mamdani has no authority to arrest a visiting leader of a foreign nation. If the mayor were to attempt it, based on a warrant issued in November 2024 by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity in the Gaza war, the US government would intervene and stop him. The prime minister is not — to the dismay of the mayor and his fans — about to find himself in the dock at The Hague.

Both Mamdani and Netanyahu are no doubt well aware of this. And yet the above statements are key to understanding why the mayor is still insisting that he is pursuing the idea, and why the Israeli premier is amplifying his threats with outraged retorts.

For Mamdani, an attempted arrest would be a way to throw a juicy slab of red meat to his base and to project himself, once again, into the center of the American political conversation, all while taking shots at Israel.

And for Netanyahu, it would be the best election advertisement he could ask for, distracting from domestic concerns and validating his self-image as the embattled leader singularly fighting to protect his country from the global forces of anti-Israel hate.

Bolstering the mayor’s brand

Mamdani is far from the only American progressive politician to oppose Israel. What separates him from most, however, is that being pro-Palestinian isn’t incidental to his politics, or one of a laundry list of left-wing positions he holds. He has made clear that this issue has long animated him like little else.

He began his political activism in college by founding a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. Running for mayor of the city with the most Jews in the world, he doubled down on almost all of his staunchest anti-Israel beliefs. He has continued criticizing Israel and its Washington supporters in strident terms since taking office.

And he took a political risk this year endorsing three insurgent Democrats who harshly criticized Israel. In one case, Mamdani backed an anti-Israel challenger over a pro-Israel incumbent who had endorsed him just a year earlier.

So far, Mamdani’s anti-Israel stance has paid off for him. His base is as committed as he is to opposing Israel, and the rest of his supporters, amid a Democratic Party with plummeting sympathy for Israel, either agree with him or at the very least don’t seem to mind. His endorsed candidates swept their primary races last month, thrusting him into the national spotlight. His favorability ratings in NYC have gone up.

When Mamdani told The New York Times over the weekend that there’s “an active conversation with our legal department” about arresting Netanyahu, and that “He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court,” he made a similarly safe bet.

For the mayor, even a failed attempt to arrest Netanyahu will be a win of sorts. It has already generated days of international headlines, provoked a response from Netanyahu and allowed Mamdani to position himself again as one of Israel’s chief adversaries in the US.

Dan Shapiro, who served as US ambassador to Israel under former US president Barack Obama, cautioned Mamdani against the move, warning that it would end up helping the man the mayor seeks to arrest.

“Netanyahu is fighting for his political life,” Shapiro wrote in a social media post directed at Mamdani. “Many Israelis are sick of him and hope to vote him out. The only possible outcome of a fruitless attempt to arrest him in NYC would be to give him a political boost at home. That would be an own goal.”

Notably, Mamdani’s critics and supporters both responded to Shapiro that the mayor’s beef isn’t just with Netanyahu, but with his country. Mamdani isn’t playing domestic Israeli politics; he’s making a statement.

It’s true that Mamdani’s battles are against Israel, not just against Netanyahu. But it’s also true that that is the exact message Netanyahu wants to send. As Shapiro suggested, the premier already appears to be using Mamdani’s threat in his election campaign.

A political assist for Netanyahu

It isn’t news that Netanyahu will use the UN podium as a campaign stump. Despite the body’s hostility to Israel, there are few places where the prime minister seems more at home. He has repeatedly used the stage for grand speeches against what he says — and many Israelis believe — is the body’s hypocritical singular focus on Israel, one he argues is rooted in antisemitism.

And with the General Assembly happening about a month before Israel’s election, expect his speech to double as a pitch to voters. Being chased by an anti-Israel mayor, and evading his clutches, would be the cherry on top.

Mamdani is widely disliked in Israel, and any stunt by the mayor would allow Netanyahu to portray himself as a fighter against the American left-wing villain. In the eyes of the prime minister, it would be the fulfillment of that 2019 meme, now in a global sense, with the prime minister pursued not because of who he is, but because of those he represents.

Netanyahu is already starting to do that, on Sunday calling Mamdani’s threat an attack on “the leader of the Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East.”

In fact, there’s likely nothing Netanyahu would like more than a break from domestic politics. The fight with Mamdani has allowed him, albeit briefly, to distract from the bevy of controversial, unpopular legislation he just pushed through the Knesset, benefiting his Haredi coalition partners and, according to critics, gutting protections for the rule of law and freedom of the press. Instead of having to defend that legislation, he gets to position himself as the defender of Israel, increasing sympathy for him just ahead of the election.

Speaking to The Times of Israel, Shapiro reiterated that Mamdani “obviously has no authority” to act on an ICC arrest warrant. The people whom the effort would benefit, he said, are Mamdani, Netanyahu and their respective supporters.

“This talk is mostly a vehicle for those who believe Israel committed genocide to express their outrage and their desire to punish Israel,” Shapiro said. “But it won’t happen. And ironically, in the real world, the most likely impact of any drama over a purported attempt to arrest Netanyahu will be to give him a political boost, as even Israelis who are unhappy with him may rally to rebut the genocide charge.”

Shapiro added, “Mamdani and other critics of Israel don’t seem to take into account that the Israeli people, who vote in democratic elections, are a key actor in any serious effort to achieve political change.”