Inna Vernikov, a Jewish member of the New York City Council, urged U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to determine whether New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani could face federal consequences if he attempts to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his planned visit to New York for the U.N. General Assembly.
In a letter sent to Rubio on Sunday, Vernikov, a Ukrainian-born Republican, accused Mamdani of threatening to carry out an “illegal order of arrest” and urged the U.S. State Department to issue a “stern” formal warning and assess whether such an action would violate U.S. law.
“This week, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has yet again threatened to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival in New York City for UNGA in September, citing the International Criminal Court, which the United States is not a signatory to,” Vernikov wrote.
“Not only does this political theater further fan the flames of antisemitism in New York City, but it is entirely baseless, as the mayor has no legal authority to arrest a sitting foreign diplomat,” she added.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote that Netanyahu “will not be arrested, in any way, shape or form, while in the United States of America.”
Vernikov told JNS that she is grateful for Trump’s statement, saying it reaffirmed “what we already knew—Mamdani cannot and will not arrest Bibi.”
“To all the hopeful DSA puppets, Mamdani is about to break one of his core promises: to arrest the sitting prime minister of the only Jewish state,” she said. “Be angry.”
Vernikov also criticized what she described as Mamdani’s administration engaging with “the Islamic Republic of Iran, an enemy country the United States is currently at war with,” arguing that the mayor’s comments and actions amounted to a “threat of an illegal order of arrest” that “must bear consequences.”
She asked the State Department to determine whether an attempted arrest could expose Mamdani to federal prosecution or other criminal action.
In an interview with The New York Times published on Saturday, Mamdani again said he was floating the idea of arresting Israel’s prime minister if he visits New York City, citing the ICC warrant issued against the Israeli leader over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Mamdani said his administration is consulting with the city’s Law Department to determine whether New York authorities have any legal authority to act if Netanyahu travels to Manhattan for the U.N. General Assembly in September. He said he would follow “whatever the law allows.”
