NEW YORK — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit New York this month for a short trip amid calls for his arrest by Zohran Mamdani, the city’s mayor. Netanyahu, who faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Gaza, will be in the United States to address the UN General Assembly (UNGA).Netanyahu is making a whirlwind 24-hour trip to speak at the annual UN gathering of world leaders because “there is no option” after the New York mayor urged his arrest over the war in Gaza, Israel’s UN envoy said on Tuesday.While the US and Israel are not members of the court and New York City does not have the power to execute an ICC warrant, Mamdani has sought the arrest of Netanyahu, whom he referred to as a “war criminal”.Ambassador Danny Danon accused Mamdani of “doing politics” when he called the prime minister a “war criminal” and called for his arrest, which he had to withdraw because New York City does not have authority to take Netanyahu into custody.“You know, it became very trendy to do politics by blaming Israel,” Danon added. He stressed, “For us, it’s important the prime minister will come.”Netanyahu is scheduled to reach New York late on September 23. He will address the UN General Assembly in the afternoon of September 24 and return to Israel that night.Explaining the reason behind the short trip, Danon said the UNGA is being held during the Jewish holidays and ongoing election campaign back in Israel.Netanyahu’s 2025 address at the UN General Assembly hall was met by a mass walkout by representatives of several countries.Danon said such protests against Netanyahu would lead to “more chaos” on New York streets during the high-level meetings.The Israeli envoy said, “I expect that there will be something like another show.” But the ambassador said Netanyahu is experienced, “and I’m sure he will deliver his speech despite those attempts.”As Netanyahu is set to be in New York this month, there has been no remarks from Mamdani’s office on the scheduled visit so far. According to the ICC, there were reasonable grounds to suspect that Netanyahu had used “starvation as a weapon of warfare” by limiting the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and deliberately directing attacks against civilians during the conflict. Israel has rejected the allegations.NEW YORK — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit New York this month for a short trip amid calls for his arrest by Zohran Mamdani, the city’s mayor. Netanyahu, who faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Gaza, will be in the United States to address the UN General Assembly (UNGA).Netanyahu is making a whirlwind 24-hour trip to speak at the annual UN gathering of world leaders because “there is no option” after the New York mayor urged his arrest over the war in Gaza, Israel’s UN envoy said on Tuesday.While the US and Israel are not members of the court and New York City does not have the power to execute an ICC warrant, Mamdani has sought the arrest of Netanyahu, whom he referred to as a “war criminal”.Ambassador Danny Danon accused Mamdani of “doing politics” when he called the prime minister a “war criminal” and called for his arrest, which he had to withdraw because New York City does not have authority to take Netanyahu into custody.“You know, it became very trendy to do politics by blaming Israel,” Danon added. He stressed, “For us, it’s important the prime minister will come.”Netanyahu is scheduled to reach New York late on September 23. He will address the UN General Assembly in the afternoon of September 24 and return to Israel that night.Explaining the reason behind the short trip, Danon said the UNGA is being held during the Jewish holidays and ongoing election campaign back in Israel.Netanyahu’s 2025 address at the UN General Assembly hall was met by a mass walkout by representatives of several countries.Danon said such protests against Netanyahu would lead to “more chaos” on New York streets during the high-level meetings.The Israeli envoy said, “I expect that there will be something like another show.” But the ambassador said Netanyahu is experienced, “and I’m sure he will deliver his speech despite those attempts.”As Netanyahu is set to be in New York this month, there has been no remarks from Mamdani’s office on the scheduled visit so far. According to the ICC, there were reasonable grounds to suspect that Netanyahu had used “starvation as a weapon of warfare” by limiting the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and deliberately directing attacks against civilians during the conflict. Israel has rejected the allegations.
