Netanyahu flight path to US was lengthened due to concerns over ICC warrant, health
Israeli Ambassador to US Yechiel Leiter says journey to DC last month took 13.5 hours because prime minister flew over US military bases in case he required emergency landing
Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s flight to Washington last month was lengthened due to concerns over both his health and an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court, Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter revealed on Thursday.
Netanyahu flew to the US on February 2 to meet with US President Donald Trump in the White House, less than six weeks after surgery to have his prostate removed. The trip also came after the ICC last year issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on charges of war crimes, meaning that countries party to the Rome Statute would be obliged to take him into custody.
During a webinar on Thursday, Leiter said that the prime minister’s flight to the US was forced to take a longer path so that it was flying over US army bases in an event that it could be forced to land for medical reasons and would not land in a country that may arrest Netanyahu.
“When the prime minister came here last month, he had to fly 13 1/2 hours — a trip that should take 12 hours — people don’t know this, but the reason is because he couldn’t land anywhere in Europe,” said Leiter.
“He had just had surgery, he came with two doctors, and they told him he may have to land for treatment,” the ambassador added. “But 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 — 13.5 hours.”
The Israeli ambassador made the comments during a webinar for the One Israel Fund, a nonprofit that supports Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Leiter, who entered the role of ambassador in January, founded the One Israel Fund in 1994. His son, Maj. (res.) Moshe Leiter, was killed fighting in Gaza on November 10, 2023.
The ICC announced arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu as well as former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Neither Israel nor the United States are party to the court, and the warrant has no enforcement mechanism, with the ICC instead relying on cooperation from its member states. ICC member countries are required to act on the court’s arrest warrants but have not always done so.
In the wake of the warrants, a number of countries said they would not arrest Netanyahu were he to visit, including Hungary, Argentina, the Czech Republic and Romania.
Poland said it would seek to shield him from arrest, while France and Italy said they believed he had immunity as a world leader from a state not party to the ICC.
Netanyahu is expected to fly to Hungary next week for a diplomatic visit.
