World · Accountability

Mamdani Calls Netanyahu a “War Criminal,” Says He Belongs Before a Court

In a detailed video statement, the New York mayor lays out a list of accusations against Israel’s leader and demands he face trial, while conceding the city cannot arrest him on its own.

By Vincypowa News Staff  |  New York City · July 22, 2026

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has delivered his sharpest attack yet on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him a war criminal and the architect of a genocide against the Palestinian people in a video statement that sets out a detailed list of accusations and demands that the Israeli leader face trial.

In the roughly two-minute address, posted to X and filmed behind a desk flanked by the American and New York City flags, Mamdani built his case around the arrest warrant that the International Criminal Court issued against Netanyahu. Israel rejects the court’s jurisdiction and denies the allegations, which have not been tested at trial.

The accusations

Mamdani accused Netanyahu of responsibility for the killing of more than 73,000 people, a toll in line with figures reported by the Gaza Health Ministry, and for the maiming of tens of thousands of children, saying some survivors have undergone amputations without anaesthesia. He further accused Israeli forces of targeting neonatal hospitals and maternity centres, of starving civilians and of blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. He also argued that his own country shares the blame. “As Americans, we pay for the bombs that do the killing,” he said, pointing to US weapons and military support for Israel.

“Anyone with their eyes, with their heart, with their conscience, should recognise the devastation he has wrought and understand that he belongs before a court of law,” Mamdani said. Netanyahu and his government firmly reject such characterisations.

A pledge, narrowed

As a candidate, Mamdani had said flatly that New York City would arrest Netanyahu if he set foot in the city. In this video he narrowed that promise, acknowledging that his administration had reviewed the city’s legal options and concluded it does not have the independent authority to execute the ICC warrant. He called instead on the federal government to join the ICC and enforce it, while leaving no doubt about his own position: “Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large.”

We can decide whether our silence will become another weapon. Zohran Mamdani

Mamdani framed the moment as a choice for the city’s leaders, saying that while New York cannot end the war in Gaza on its own, it can refuse to look away, and casting his stand as a commitment to defend the humanity and dignity of Palestinians.

The warrant at the centre of it

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, finding reasonable grounds to believe the two bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare. Israel condemned the warrants as politically motivated and legally invalid and rejects the court’s authority. The United States, which is not an ICC member, has also rejected the warrant, and President Donald Trump has said Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form” while in the United States.

A divided reaction

The video drew strong responses on both sides. Supporters praised the mayor for what they called a principled stand for international law and Palestinian civilians. Critics accused him of political theatre and of exceeding the proper role of a city leader, and some warned of damage to US relations with Israel. Senator John Fetterman told Mamdani to “sit down” and focus on local issues, while legal experts have repeatedly questioned whether any city could lawfully help the ICC detain a foreign leader, citing federal restrictions and head-of-state immunity. Netanyahu’s office has dismissed the ICC as a “kangaroo court” and the warrant as “bogus.” Netanyahu is expected in the city for the United Nations General Assembly in September, which will sharpen attention on both the warrant and Mamdani’s stance.

A step the Caribbean took long ago

The confrontation reads differently from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Mamdani’s central demand is that the United States join the ICC, a step this country and most of the Caribbean took more than two decades ago. St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a state party to the Rome Statute and has publicly backed the court, and it recognised the State of Palestine in 2011, among the first CARICOM nations to do so. For small states, international law is less an abstraction than a shield, the main protection a nation of roughly 110,000 people holds against far larger powers, which is why the argument now roiling New York is one the region settled long ago.

This article reports on an active and contested political and legal dispute. The accusations described are those made by Mayor Mamdani, and the ICC’s charges against Benjamin Netanyahu are allegations that have not been tested at trial. Israel denies the allegations and rejects the court’s jurisdiction. Characterisations quoted here are attributed to the people who made them and are not the views of Vincypowa News.