Netanyahu overflies French airspace again despite ICC arrest warrant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters, in New York, United States, on September 24, 2026. EDUARDO MUNOZ/REUTERS Every time Benjamin Netanyahu travels outside Israel, several social media accounts track his every move. The Israeli Prime Minister is under an arrest warrant issued in November 2024 by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for suspected crimes against humanity and war crimes. Despite this, on Thursday, September 24, while traveling to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he was allowed to cross French airspace for the ninth time since the warrant was issued, as well as the airspace of three other ICC member states: Greece, Italy and Canada. As in the eight previous instances, the ICC judges did not explicitly request that Netanyahu be arrested by the four countries he flew over, and they are not expected to summon the countries to demand explanations for their actions. "The ICC has never required states to arrest a suspect in flight," said international judge Gilbert Bitti. Former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who was also indicted by the ICC, was able to fly over dozens of countries without the Court reprimanding them, Bitti said. "What matters is the capacity for arrest," he added, and therefore "the execution of the arrest warrant when the wanted person is on the territory of the state." Responding to questions from Le Monde , the French Foreign Ministry said France fully complied with international law and clarified that the ICC statute " does not impose any obligation regarding the overflight of its territory by a State aircraft whose passengers include a person subject to an arrest warrant." You have 73.94% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.