Nearly half of Americans support enforcing ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu, poll finds

Nearly half of Americans believe the US should arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his actions in the Gaza war, according to a new opinion poll.

In the survey conducted by The Economist/YouGov, 49% of respondents supported enforcing an arrest warrant against Netanyahu, while those opposed remained at 27%.

The poll asked participants whether the US should execute the arrest warrant issued for Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

While 49% of respondents answered “yes” to the question, 27% said “no.” A further 23% of participants reported being undecided.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024. The court accuses the Israeli prime minister of using starvation as a method of warfare and committing crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution.

The indictment also states that the prime minister intentionally directed attacks against the civilian population in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, backed away from a previous pledge to have Netanyahu arrested if the prime minister visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly in the coming months.

“It is clear that we lack independent legal authority to enforce this arrest warrant. However, the federal government possesses this authority,” Mamdani said in a video published on the social media platform X.

“I call on them to join the ICC and execute this arrest warrant,” Mamdani added in his statement.

Israel and the US do not fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC, as neither nation ever ratified the court’s founding treaty.

However, the ICC stresses that it holds jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories.

In the same The Economist/YouGov survey, 47% of respondents expressed the belief that Netanyahu is “guilty of war crimes in Gaza.” While 24% of participants disagreed with this view, 29% stated they were undecided.

The Economist/YouGov study was conducted between July 25 and July 27 with 1,559 participants. The margin of error for the study was reported as plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.