Netanyahu’s flight to US takes a different route to evade ICC arrest warrant: Report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aircraft from Hungary to the US flew an extra 400 kilometers from the normal route to avoid the airspace of several countries that could enforce an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant last November for allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. According to the report from Haaretz, Israel believed that Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands could have acted to enforce the warrant.

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Netanyahu arrived in Washington for a meeting with US President Donald Trump that is expected to be dominated by Washington’s shock tariffs on Israel and escalating tensions with Iran. Netanyahu flew in from Hungary, where he held talks with Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Several rights groups called on Hungary to uphold its obligations to the ICC under the Rome Statute that prohibits inviting and receiving an individual subject to an ICC warrant.

However, Orban’s government announced it was pulling out of the Rome Statue and also made clear before Netanyahu’s visit that his government would not enforce the ICC warrant, despite its decision to withdraw from the ICC becoming effective only after a year.

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