Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled through Canadian airspace on Thursday despite facing an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled through Canadian airspace on Thursday while an International Criminal Court arrest warrant remains in effect, according to information tied to flight tracking data and comments from Canada’s foreign affairs officials.
Online flight tracker information indicated Netanyahu flew over multiple countries, including Greece, Italy and France, before travelling over Canada on his way to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, Myah Tomasi, said that any authorization to pass through Canadian airspace should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the policies or actions of any particular government. In this case, Tomasi said the overflight request was connected to participation in the UN General Assembly, which she described as a “critical forum” for diplomatic engagement.
In November 2024, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu related to alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Canada’s position on potential entry into the country has also previously been addressed by senior officials; Prime Minister Mark Carney said in October that Netanyahu would be arrested if he entered Canada.
Tomasi’s remarks focused on the limited meaning of overflight permission rather than on whether any enforcement action could occur in Canadian airspace. She characterized the authorization as part of a UN-related routing request, distinguishing the diplomatic purpose of the trip from any suggestion that Canada is endorsing the actions at issue.
The movement through Canadian airspace comes amid ongoing international legal and diplomatic disputes surrounding the ICC warrant. For Canadians, the key practical issue is that Canada’s public messaging links arrest enforcement to entry into Canada, while also emphasizing that allowing an aircraft to pass overhead is not the same as taking a position on the underlying conflict.
Thursday’s overflight route highlights how countries can receive or process aviation requests even when a political figure is subject to international legal action, with Canada’s foreign affairs ministry stressing that overflight permission is not an endorsement of any government’s conduct.
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