Although we cannot confirm it, on Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to fly an alternate route. He was about to board a plane in Tel Aviv for the United States. This decision was designed to avoid passing through countries that might be able to execute an existing arrest warrant against him for war crimes. The prime minister’s visit would be largely to discuss issues at the United Nations General Assembly and to meet President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu’s flight took a roundabout route flying the full length of the Mediterranean Sea before temporarily overflying Greece and Italy. It essentially circumnavigated all of mainland French and Spanish airspace. This decision was probably based on a desire for these countries to not be ICC members. If Netanyahu’s any other head of state and flies over countries that are party to the ICC, he will encounter dire consequences. He could be compelled to not land and face arrest.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 tracked the prime minister’s flight, showing the stopover-laden path due to the deliberate avoidance of European airspace. This illustrative path serves to underscore the labyrinthine, and very real, legal challenges that Netanyahu currently faces. Neither Israel nor the United States are parties to the ICC, complicating matters further.
Netanyahu’s last trip to the United States in July was quite the opposite. His flight subsequently went over Greece, Italy and France without incident. The decision to change route this time caused a lot of speculation about what motivated such a decision.
A French diplomatic source commented on the situation, stating, “Eventually they decided to take another route and we don’t know the reason.”
