New Poll Shows Nearly Half of Americans Want Netanyahu Arrested on US Soil

A Nation Divided Over an Unprecedented Question

Nearly half of Americans think the U.S. should carry out the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters the country, new polling finds — outnumbering those who say the U.S. shouldn't arrest him by nearly two to one. It's a striking number, and one that landed at a particularly charged moment.

The Economist/YouGov poll was conducted between July 25 and 27, featuring 1,559 respondents and a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. When asked about the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes related to Israel's military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, 49% of respondents said the Israeli premier should be detained, while 27% said he should not be arrested, and 23% were unsure.

The Partisan Fault Lines Are Sharp

The partisan divide was clear: 68% of Democrats supported his arrest, compared with just 24% of Republicans. Independents also leaned toward arrest, with 55% holding that view. Perhaps most surprising, almost a quarter of Trump voters believe Netanyahu should be arrested during his U.S. visit.

The poll also found that 47% of Americans believed Netanyahu's actions had damaged relations between the United States and Israel — a view shared by 61% of Democrats and 30% of Republicans. On another question, 47% of respondents said they believed Netanyahu was guilty of war crimes in Gaza, compared with 24% who said he was not — with 71% of Democrats holding this view, compared with 20% of Republicans.

What the ICC Warrant Actually Says

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024, accusing him of using starvation as a method of warfare and committing crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution, and alleging that the prime minister intentionally directed attacks against the civilian population in Gaza. The U.S. is not a member of the ICC, and the Trump administration has flatly rejected the ICC case against Israel and has sanctioned the Hague officials involved. Israel strongly refutes the war crimes allegations.

Asked whether they believed Israel was committing "genocide" against Palestinians, 43% of poll respondents answered yes — and according to YouGov, views on the issue have changed little over the past year, with 42% giving the same answer back in September 2025.

The Political Backdrop: A White House Visit and a Mayoral Vow

Netanyahu and President Donald Trump met at the White House on July 28, 2026, in a meeting closed to the press, ahead of Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral. The visit marked Netanyahu's seventh meeting with Trump in his second term, and their first in-person meeting since they launched the war on Iran.

Discourse surrounding Netanyahu's warrant has surged in recent days after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his office was exploring legal avenues to arrest Netanyahu if he enters the city for the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September. Mamdani ultimately acknowledged, "It is clear that we do not have the independent legal authority to enforce this warrant," adding that the federal government does, and calling on them to join the ICC and execute the warrant. The poll results suggest that call resonates with a significant slice of the American public — and the political pressure surrounding Netanyahu's future U.S. visits is unlikely to fade anytime soon.