Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane took an extended detour on Thursday as he traveled to New York for the UN General Assembly in order to avoid the airspace of all countries along the route except Italy and Greece, lengthening the journey by hundreds of kilometers.

The trajectory, visible on Flight Tracker, may have been an effort to avoid problems related to the International Criminal Court’s warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest over alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza — charges Israel denies.

Many of the State Parties to the ICC in Europe have said that, pursuant to the arrest warrant, they would detain Netanyahu if he were present on their soil.

The detour added 600 kilometers (372 miles) to the journey, the Haaretz newspaper reported.

There was no official reason given for the unusual route, and ahead of departure, Israel had asked for authorization for Netanyahu’s plane to fly over French airspace, according to a French diplomatic official.

The French gave permission, according to the official, though the plane did not make use of it.

“They decided to take another route, and we don’t know the reason,” said the official.

The flight, on the Wing of Zion state plane, also appeared to avoid the airspace of Spain, which has vowed to assist the ICC investigation.

Kan public broadcaster correspondent Itay Blumenthal posted to social media images showing the path that Netanyahu took for his flight compared to a much shorter route he took when flying to the US in July.

The Prime Minister’s Office........

© The Times of Israel