Poll: 49% Of Americans Support Enforcing ICC Arrest Warrant For Netanyahu

A new Economist/YouGov poll released Tuesday found that 49% of Americans believe the United States should enforce an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The online survey, conducted July 25–27, asked respondents whether the U.S. should implement the ICC warrant issued in 2024. Forty-nine percent said yes, 27% said no, and 23% were unsure. In a related question, 47% of respondents said they believe Netanyahu is "guilty of war crimes in Gaza."

The ICC warrant has continued to provoke discussion in U.S. political and civic circles. The United States and Israel have not ratified the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC; the Clinton administration signed the statute in 1998 but did not complete ratification.

In mid-July, New York City Councilmember Zohran Mamdani told The New York Times he was in "active" discussions about whether local officials could have jurisdiction to detain Netanyahu if the prime minister visits New York in September for the United Nations General Assembly. "He's a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court," Mamdani said in an interview with Lulu Garcia-Navarro.

The political response from the federal level has been emphatic. In February 2025, former President Donald Trump announced sanctions against the ICC, calling its actions "illegitimate and baseless" and saying the court unfairly targeted the United States and its allies. Trump also posted a statement on Truth Social denying any possibility of Netanyahu’s arrest while on U.S. soil.

"Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America. He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and others. The only ones that should be arrested are the people that led Iran into this unprecedented SPIRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION, something that should have been dealt with years ago, by previous Presidents!" — Donald Trump, Truth Social

The poll highlights a growing debate in the U.S. over international accountability, the practical reach of the ICC, and how American officials should respond if a leader of a close ally faces an international arrest warrant while visiting the country.