Overview

• Netanyahu departed Tel Aviv overnight bound for New York to address the UN General Assembly and meet President Donald Trump at the White House.
• Tracking sites showed brief transits over Greece and Italy before a sweep over the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar that bypassed French and Spanish airspace, extending the journey by over 600 kilometers.
• Media reports said the detour was apparently intended to reduce the risk of enforcing the ICC arrest warrant issued in November 2024, and the Israeli prime minister’s office has not commented.
• A French diplomatic source said France approved an Israeli request to overfly its airspace but did not know why a different route was chosen.
• Haaretz reported this was the first time Netanyahu’s government plane used such routing after six previous U.S.-bound trips that overflew Greece, Italy and France without changes.