ICC arrest warrants: Netanyahu avoids French airspace for first time en route to US
ICC arrest warrants: Netanyahu avoids French airspace for first time en route to US
The plane carrying Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the UN General Assembly in New York has avoided French airspace, flying only over Greece and Italy, flight trackers show.
Netanyahu was issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2024, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Gaza since October 2023.
All EU countries, including Italy, France and Greece, are members of the ICC and are legally obliged to enforce the warrants, though Hungary, an Israeli ally, has officially begun the process of withdrawal from the ICC.
However, Italy, France and Greece have permitted Netanyahu to use their airspace several times since the warrants were issued.
This is the first time he has avoided French airspace since the warrants, amid growing international opposition to the genocide in Gaza and as France, the UK and other western allies have announced their recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Flight trackers on Thursday showed the plane’s path, appearing to avoid French and Spanish airspace.
The Jerusalem Post reported last week that Netanyahu’s Wing of Zion plane would take a longer route than originally planned, due to concerns that European countries may not grant it overflight permission.
“The route change is linked to political tensions related to the war in Gaza, and to speculation that countries that are members of the International Criminal Court may deny overflight to individuals facing legal action,” the Post reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
'He could be arrested as a war criminal'
Netanyahu’s flight to the US in February also took a longer route due to arrest fears, according to Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter.
It was his first trip abroad since the ICC issued the arrest warrant against him and then-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over the central charge of the use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.
But when he still passed over France, Italy and Greece, the three countries stated publicly that they would not enforce the warrants, citing his alleged immunity as a head of government.
Netanyahu had recently undergone prostate removal surgery, and there were concerns his flight would be forced to land for emergency medical treatment, Leiter told a webinar in March.
“If he were to land anywhere in Europe, he could be arrested as a war criminal. So he had to fly over American army bases.”
In April, Netanyahu flew over France, Italy and Croatia during a trip from Hungary to the US.
Legal experts have denounced EU states for allowing Netanyahu’s overflight in violation of the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty.
A French diplomatic source told Middle East Eye in April that Netanyahu’s flight on 2 February had been “authorised” to use French airspace, which they said was “in full compliance with France’s rights and obligations under international law”.
But UN special rapporteur Ben Saul disputed France’s position.
“Under the Tokyo Convention 1963, a state normally should not interfere in an aircraft in flight to exercise its criminal jurisdiction,” he told MEE at the time.
But there are exceptions for this provision under the same treaty, including where "the exercise of jurisdiction is necessary to ensure the observance of any obligation of such state under a multilateral international agreement".
“So the Rome Statute would be one such agreement, allowing a state to require an aircraft overflying its territory to land, in order to arrest a person on board,” Saul argued.
