Exclusive: Mamdani pledged to arrest Netanyahu. A poll shows how New Yorkers really feel about that
Just a third of voters support the Democratic nominee’s vow to comply with an ICC warrant if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the city
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 27, 2024. Photo by Avi Ohayon/GPO
By Jacob Kornbluh June 26, 2025
Zohran Mamdani pledged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York City on his watch as mayor. Now that he is one step closer to getting the job, a poll shows a plurality of voters oppose an arrest.
The Honan Strategy Group survey of 817 likely voters in the Nov. 4 general election for mayor of New York, and shared exclusively with the Forward, shows 45% oppose acting on the International Criminal Court warrant, while 36% support it. Nineteen percent were undecided or had no opinion.
The poll published Thursday, conducted via text-to-web on June 25 and 26 following Mamdani’s upset Tuesday in the primary, has a reported margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percent.
Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist who defied the establishment to win the crowded Democratic mayoral primary, said last November that were he elected mayor he would arrest the Israeli leader for alleged war crimes in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Bradley Honan, who conducted the poll, said the results show the arrest warrant is not a winning issue for a candidate who needs to extend his base of support. “Here’s a signature issue where only a third of voters are behind him on that,” Honan said. “There’s not a majority support for that sentiment today.”
Netanyahu visits the city every September to attend the United Nations General Assembly. The United States is not a party to the ICC and the federal government would likely challenge the legitimacy of the arrest.
Mamdani didn’t back down from his pledge even in his outreach to Jewish voters, who trend centrist on Israel.
“I believe our city should be in compliance with international law,” he said last month at a UJA-Federation town hall. “And if I was asked the same question about Vladimir Putin, I would have had the same answer… Ultimately, it’s wanting to show the leadership that I think is missing in our city, and also in our country.”
Mamdani referred to a photo from the prime minister’s office of Netanyahu on the phone approving the strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last September, while he was attending the UN annual gathering.
“What troubles me greatly is that Benjamin Netanyahu has also issued military commands from this very city when visiting it, and those are commands that we have seen photos of him in a hotel room, making that decision, a decision that has killed many innocent people,” he said.
The bombing that killed Nasrallah killed another 32 people and wounded 195, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Much of the Hezbollah command was killed in the bombing. It’s not clear how many of the dead were Hezbollah and how many were civilians.
“And I do not want our city to be party to those kinds of decisions,” Mamdani said. “I do not want individuals who are wanted for those kinds of international crimes, as has been stated by the International Criminal Court, to feel that they are welcome here.”
Mamdani’s primary rivals, Andrew Cuomo and Whitney Tilson, sought to use the arrest threat against him during the campaign.
Mamdani also said he would not visit Israel, breaking with a tradition upheld by mayors since 1951 to show solidarity with the fledgling nation and with Jewish constituents at home. He is the first Democratic nominee to pledge to publicly back the boycott Israel movement as mayor.
Mamdani in his victory speech extended an olive branch to Jewish voters wary of him and referred to his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “There are millions of New Yorkers who have strong feelings about what happens overseas. Yes, I am one of them,” he said. “And while I will not abandon my beliefs or my commitments, grounded in a demand for equality, for humanity, you have my word to reach further, to understand the perspectives of those with whom I disagree, and to wrestle deeply with those disagreements.”
State of the race
Democratic nominees for mayor typically win in November, with about two-thirds of New York voters registered as Democrats – but Mamdani could still face a serious challenge.
Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, elected as a Democrat in 2021, is running for reelection as an independent on an “End Antisemitism” ballot line. Cuomo, the former governor who lost to Mamdani by 6 points, said he is weighing his options on whether or not to run as an independent.
According to the post-primary Honan Strategy Group survey, Cuomo and Mamdani are tied at 39% each in a five-person race, which also includes Adams, GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa and attorney Jim Walden, who is running as an independent. Cuomo has a 44-40 lead if Adams drops his reelection bid, and Adams trails Mamdani by 15 points if Cuomo opts out of a second shot at the job.
Adams launched his reelection campaign, flanked by supporters and Orthodox leaders, on the steps of City Hall on Thursday.
