A Senate Republican is moving to punish cities like New York if they attempt to enforce an International Criminal Court warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has vowed to do.
Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., is introducing legislation that would cut off certain federal funding from cities that act on any ICC warrant to arrest or detain officials from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries.
The proposal, called the “American Allies Protection Act,” is a direct response to Mamdani’s repeated pledge to arrest Netanyahu. The ICC issued a warrant for the Israeli leader last year, a move that has drawn intense scrutiny from lawmakers in the United States and abroad.
Mamdani recently reiterated his stance ahead of a meeting with President Donald Trump. In an interview with local station ABC7, he described New York City as a “city of international law” that would honor the court’s arrest warrants, which accuse Netanyahu of intentionally targeting civilians and using starvation as a method of warfare.
“I’ve said time and again that I believe this is a city of international law, and being a city of international law means looking to uphold international law,” Mamdani said. “And that means upholding the warrants from the International Criminal Court, whether they’re for Benjamin Netanyahu or Vladimir Putin.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Budd argued that the United States is “not bound by the morally bankrupt” court, and accused Mamdani of using the issue to “virtue-signal to his radical, anti-Israel base” rather than grounding his position in law.
“Mayor-elect Mamdani’s pledge to facilitate the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu is not just ridiculous; it represents a grave threat that could seriously damage America’s relationship with our closest allies and partners,” Budd said.
Under Budd’s bill, any city that cooperates with the ICC to arrest a NATO official or a major non-NATO ally of the United States would lose access to Department of Justice (DOJ) grants.
The legislation includes an override mechanism that would allow the president to lift the funding penalty only if such cooperation with the court is deemed necessary for U.S. national security.
Despite the public clash over Netanyahu, the issue reportedly did not surface during Trump and Mamdani’s recent meeting. Asked whether they discussed any effort to prevent the mayor-elect from arresting Netanyahu, Trump said the topic “didn’t discuss” between the two.
