US expands back-to-back strikes on Iran after Jordan attack deaths
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What happened
On July 18, 2026, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on The New York Times’s “The Interview” podcast that his administration was in “active conversation” with the city Law Department about whether New York City could arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits Manhattan for the United Nations General Assembly in September. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant in November 2024 for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including starvation as a method of warfare; the United States is not a party to the ICC’s Rome Statute and does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction over Israel. Mamdani said Netanyahu “belongs in The Hague” and that his administration would do “whatever the law allows” but would not “be writing our own laws.” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz responded that such an arrest “is not going to happen,” citing U.S. non-membership in the ICC, the U.N. Headquarters Agreement, head-of-state immunity, and federal authority over local officials.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
The Guardian gives the most context on the ICC warrant itself: it says the warrant accused Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including “starvation as a method of warfare” and “murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.” The New York Post and Daily Wire say the warrant concerns war crimes, and Daily Wire adds crimes against humanity, but neither gives those specific alleged acts. The Guardian also includes Mamdani’s caveat that he “won’t be writing our own laws” and his past condemnation of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks as a “horrific war crime”; the Post and Daily Wire do not include that Oct. 7 line. In the other direction, the Post and Daily Wire spell out Mike Waltz’s legal rebuttal in more detail: the “Rome Statute,” the “UN Headquarters Agreement,” “head-of-state immunity,” and that “federal authority trumps any local mayor’s wishes.” The Guardian mentions only that Waltz dismissed the threat as “pure political theater” and that the U.S. is not an ICC member, while separately citing earlier experts who called an arrest a “practical impossibility.”
The wording gap is stark. The Guardian headline frames Mamdani as “exploring whether he can arrest Netanyahu,” while the Post calls it a “threat to have Benjamin Netanyahu arrested” and Daily Wire calls it Mamdani’s “dream of arresting” Netanyahu. The Post’s lead actor is Waltz, who “slaps down” Mamdani; Daily Wire says the Trump administration “threw cold water” on the idea. The Guardian’s lead actor is Mamdani, quoted saying Netanyahu “belongs in The Hague.”
Fox News is the outlier: it covers the same New York Times interview as a story about Mamdani “doubl[ing] down on democratic socialism” and Wall Street, but it does not mention Netanyahu, the ICC, the U.N. visit, or arrest at all. None of the pieces answers the central practical question: what exact New York City legal mechanism, if any, could the NYPD use to detain a visiting head of government, and has the city Law Department reached a formal conclusion?
Bottom line
The split is not just tone: the Guardian supplies the ICC allegation details and Mamdani’s “horrific war crime” line on Oct. 7, while the Post and Daily Wire supply Waltz’s legal blockers, including the “UN Headquarters Agreement” and “head-of-state immunity.” Fox News wrote up the same Times interview and omitted the Netanyahu-arrest issue entirely.
The Left View
Left-leaning coverage centers the ICC warrant as the basis for Mamdani’s position and presents his comments as an attempt to test the limits of local authority rather than invent new powers. The Guardian highlights his statement that Netanyahu is “a war criminal” who “belongs in The Hague,” while also noting that he condemned the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks as a “horrific war crime.” It gives weight to the legal obstacles, reporting that experts have called an arrest a “practical impossibility” and that any attempt could create a confrontation with the federal government. The coverage also frames Mamdani’s stance as part of a broader Democratic shift on Israel and Gaza, citing the growing share of House Democrats willing to vote against military aid to Israel.
The Right View
Right-leaning coverage frames Mamdani’s comments as legally baseless and politically performative. The New York Post and Daily Wire foreground Waltz’s description of the idea as “pure political theater” and emphasize his argument that diplomatic protections, head-of-state immunity, and federal supremacy would block any city-level arrest effort. They also highlight Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon’s accusation that Mamdani is “failing to govern New York” and using Israel to “generate headlines,” along with criticism that the mayor should focus on local safety, affordability, and city workers rather than foreign policy. Fox News’s adjacent framing places Mamdani within a broader “Democratic Socialist” and “far-left” surge, portraying the episode as consistent with a progressive political brand that worries business and establishment critics.
Our Take (balanced)
The strongest left-side argument is that Mamdani is pointing to a real ICC arrest warrant, not merely making a personal accusation, and he is explicitly limiting himself to “whatever the law allows” while seeking legal advice. Its best supporting evidence is the November 2024 ICC warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, which gives his position an international-law basis even if U.S. enforcement is doubtful. The strongest right-side argument is that the relevant enforcement setting is New York City inside the United States, where the U.S. is not an ICC member and federal diplomatic, treaty, and immunity rules would almost certainly override a mayor’s preferences. Its best supporting evidence is Waltz’s specific legal objections, which align with prior expert assessments that a city arrest of a sitting foreign leader would be a “practical impossibility.” The central unresolved tension is whether the ICC warrant should carry political and moral weight in a U.S. city even when domestic law and federal authority appear to leave local officials with little or no power to enforce it.
7 sources
- ‘He’s a war criminal’: Mamdani exploring whether he can arrest Netanyahu if he visits New York
- Mamdani doubles down on democratic socialism while insisting Wall Street, business leaders can work with him
- US ambassador to UN slaps down Zohran Mamdani’s threat to have Benjamin Netanyahu arrested when Israeli PM visits NYC
- Trump Official Throws Cold Water on Mamdani’s Netanyahu Promise
- Critics slam Mamdani for threatening to arrest Netanyahu in NYC: ‘Delusional’ and ‘reckless’
- 'Sit Down': Fetterman Says Mamdani a 'Clown' to Threaten Netanyahu Arrest
- Mamdani’s Main Goal Is Helping The ‘Working Class.’ He Can’t Define It.
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