President Donald Trump declared that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not be arrested if he enters the US. Netanyahu is wanted for war crimes committed in Gaza by the International Criminal Court. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that the Israeli leader belongs in the Hague. 

“Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” the President posted on Truth Social Monday. “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 only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented SPIRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION.”

The post was a response to Mamdani, who said that Netanyahu should be arrested for war crimes, but there were limitations on what he could do as Mayor of New York City. “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” he told the New York Times last week. 

“Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we will do, but we won’t be writing our own laws to that end,” Mamdani added. The US and Israel are not parties to the ICC and are not obligated to comply with the arrest warrant. Additionally, the US has a law that allows the President to use military force to keep Americans or allies from facing justice at the Hague. 

Netanyahu and other Israeli officials are wanted for their roles in war crimes committed in Gaza. Israeli forces have killed at least 70,000 Palestinians, as well as destroying most of the infrastructure in the Strip. 

Despite agreeing to a ceasefire in October, Israel has continued to attack Gaza and expand its control over the Palestinian territory.