Netanyahu’s plane to US takes alternate route to avoid ICC warrant

Israel requested and received authorization from France for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane, Wing of Zion, to fly over French airspace, a French diplomatic official confirmed. However, the flight ultimately took a different route, avoiding French airspace entirely.

“They decided to take another route and we don’t know the reason,” the official told The Times of Israel, Caliber.Az reports.

Netanyahu’s flight to New York, where he is scheduled to attend the United Nations General Assembly, avoids the airspace of all countries except Italy and Greece, despite the longer journey this entails.

The unusual flight path, visible on Flight Tracker, is an effort to circumvent complications linked to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Netanyahu over war crimes, which Israel denies.

Several countries have stated they would arrest Netanyahu if he set foot on their territory in accordance with the ICC warrant. France, which would normally be on the direct flight path, declared last year that it would not arrest the Israeli premier, a stance that drew criticism from the European Union.

By Sabina Mammadli