Lead
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America," in response to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's comments about potentially arresting Netanyahu during the UN General Assembly in September. Trump's remarks were made in a post on Truth Social, as reported by multiple outlets including Dawn, The Guardian, and the Jerusalem Post.
Coverage comparison
The story was covered by three news organizations, each framing the events with slightly different emphases. Dawn, a Pakistani English-language daily, focused on Trump's vow to protect Netanyahu and highlighted Mamdani's uncertainty about his legal power to order the arrest. The Guardian's coverage centered on the ICC arrest warrant and Mamdani's belief that Netanyahu belongs in The Hague, while also noting that the US does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction. The Jerusalem Post, an Israeli English-language outlet, led with Trump's defense of Netanyahu and emphasized the prime minister's actions against Iran, quoting Trump's claim that Iran had killed 52,000 innocent protesters.
Key claims
Trump's statement was a direct response to comments made by Mamdani, who told the New York Times that Netanyahu "belongs in The Hague" and that he was investigating the possibility of arresting him. Mamdani, who has described Israel's war on Gaza as a genocide, said during his mayoral campaign last September that he would arrest Netanyahu if he traveled to New York. He also said he is in "an active conversation" with New York City's law department about his legal authority to direct the New York police to detain Netanyahu, adding, "Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that's what we will do" and "we won't be writing our own laws to that end."
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 over alleged war crimes in Gaza, including accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, such as starvation as a method of warfare and murder. The court said it had reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu was responsible for these alleged crimes, as reported by The Guardian and Dawn. Netanyahu's office dismissed Mamdani's stance and called the ICC a "kangaroo court," according to The Guardian's report.
Trump, in his Truth Social post, said Netanyahu "is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran," which he claimed "recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors" and "has spent the last 47 years killing American soldiers, and others." Trump added that "the only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented spiral of death and destruction," as reported by the Jerusalem Post and The Guardian. In a separate post, Trump stated that "every time Iran kills an American soldier, they will pay for that killing many times over," and said he had passed a directive to enforce his words onto US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other military leaders, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Mamdani admitted he was unsure if he had the power to order police to detain a foreign leader but said he was discussing the matter with his legal team ahead of the UN General Assembly in September. The US does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction and is not a party to the court, as reported by The Guardian.