this post was submitted on 29 Dec 2025
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The plane carrying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Florida for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump passed through the airspace of three countries that are parties to the International Criminal Court, despite an active ICC arrest warrant against the Israeli leader.

Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24 showed Netanyahu’s aircraft, known as “Wings of Zion,” crossed the airspace of Greece, Italy and France before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.

All three countries are signatories to the Rome Statute, which obliges member states to cooperate with ICC arrest warrants.

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[–] SlartyBartFast@sh.itjust.works 31 points 6 days ago

So continues the collapse of the modern-day League of Nations

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 40 points 6 days ago

So all three countries failed to kill 2025 Hitler when they had the chance

[–] mrdown@lemmy.world 54 points 6 days ago

The champions of human rights and international law \s

[–] grue@lemmy.world 39 points 6 days ago (3 children)

So now the question is, what accountability and consequences are we going to apply to the Greek, Italian, and French officials who failed to do their goddamn jobs and aided and abetted a war criminal?

[–] demonsword@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago

A fierce, strong-worded letter, of course

[–] wabafee@lemmy.world 12 points 6 days ago

Slap in the wrist

[–] Nfamwap@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I, for one, will be crushing a grape tonight, such is my outrage.

[–] Guilvareux@feddit.uk 2 points 5 days ago

Just the one? Make it a bushel so we can make it a party

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 14 points 5 days ago

I mean I figured it was all a bunch of fucking posturing, but it's nice to have confirmation I guess?

[–] FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca 29 points 6 days ago

For the love of Atlas, stop letting dictators get away with everything

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 22 points 6 days ago

It would have been awesome if someone shot his ass out of the sky

[–] Eat_Your_Paisley@lemmy.world 18 points 6 days ago (3 children)

No one is going to arrest him while he’s still PM

[–] markko@lemmy.world 19 points 6 days ago

There are a lot of countries that absolutely would arrest him. Unfortunately close to none of them are the ones touting international human rights.

Here are a couple of his past flight paths:

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 13 points 6 days ago

He avoided Spain and took this detour instead.

[–] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 6 days ago (2 children)

This is a sad reality. I don't understand why you're getting down-voted for a realistic take. We live in a post-conscience world.

[–] mrdown@lemmy.world 12 points 6 days ago (1 children)

An legal obligation is a legal obligation we don't give a damn about excuses

[–] huquad@lemmy.ml 17 points 6 days ago

A legal obligation without enforcement isn't really a legal obligation. See the current state of affairs in the US

[–] demonsword@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

We live in a post-conscience world

I disagree. The only thing that changed is that (some) people stop pretending that exists some kind international law, and any and all treaties signed by all countries are subject to political and/or economical pressures. Enforcement of said treaties work the same way.

[–] shawn1122@sh.itjust.works 14 points 6 days ago

Fascinating to see all the colonial and post colonial grandstanding of the West culminate into this.

[–] _edge@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (6 children)

What would the countries be supposed to do? Let's ignore politics. I'm a small law-abiding country, I'm a member of the ICC. Let's also assume that I'm aware of the warrant and have knowledge about the flight path and the passengers.

Now what? Shall I politely ask them to land in The Hague? Should I use force? Risk starting a war?

The only realistic option I see is to diplomatically request to use a different route. Or maybe make it so that I can pretend I was not informed.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 19 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Should I use force?

Yes. You scrample fighter jets and force them down, using missiles if necessary.

Risk starting a war?

This does not follow. The war would be started by whoever illegally retaliated for a lawful arrest, not by whoever did the arresting.

[–] Kacarott@aussie.zone 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

The semantics of who "is to blame" for the war are ultimately irrelevant to the small nation trying to avoid being in a war.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Yes, the small nations of France and Italy

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[–] Ach@lemmy.world 20 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

Yes, you have air traffic control command them to land. If they don't, you escort them down with jet fighters. All that has occurred here is the ICC has shown that warrants can be situationally worthless.

Yes, you risk starting a war if you arrest a war criminal. That sucks. But that doesn't mean you ignore the warrant for fear of consequence. Now our fucking idiot president here gets a huge, very unneeded ego injection knowing European powers are afraid to arrest criminals going to speak to a convicted felon.

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[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 13 points 6 days ago

Yes landing the plane with force is literally the law.

Or even easier, don't give it flight space access. Flight space access is granted on request. Planes don't just simply show up above an airspace and hope to not get shot down. It's all with permission.

[–] Doorbook@lemmy.world 11 points 6 days ago (11 children)

Yes you can tell them you will arrest them if they fly over. And you should start a war.

Not sure what the point of joining the ICU if you don't want to hold the laws.

[–] gustofwind@lemmy.world 23 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Start a war? Part of the point of joining international organizations is to stop war from reoccurring so for you to casually suggest starting a war is to come from a completely unserious position.

[–] BoJackHorseman@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago

You're part of an international organisation. The other country is not part of that organisation. The countries in your international organisation would come to defend you.

Also France is no "small country"

[–] Insekticus@aussie.zone 8 points 6 days ago

Until the leaders of countries, and all those seeking that same power fear to misuse that power, war will be a natural state of our species.

Sure, you might have to start a small war or two, but eventually people will get the point that their leaders need to be held accountable by the people of those countries, or other countries will hold them to account.

Without any of that, we end up exactly right where we are, where leaders and countries can get away with genocide, completely invalidating any power those global institutions are supposed to wield.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago

The war would be started by whoever illegally retaliated for a lawful arrest, not by whoever did the arresting.

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[–] azertyfun@sh.itjust.works 8 points 6 days ago

Netanyahu did not show up at the border unannounced saying "let me through or else". He got permission ahead of time. Had he not gotten permission, he would have had to find another country who did or gone around. Especially for Greece and Italy which don't really stand in his way, the Mediterranean is right there!

Even assuming that Netanyahu calls the bluff and flies through, there are a lot of options ahead of all-out war. For instance sending jets to "intercept" his plane and escort him out saying "he refused to follow orders to land and we did not deem it worth it to escalate the situation". It's not like his airliner is armed or anything. But it would send a very different diplomatic message.

For France in particular, this is far from the first time he flies over its territory unimpeded. This is not a matter of military concerns, this is pro-Israel Macron taking a stance to show support for his ally. He's not been very outspoken on Gaza because the domestic political situation is very delicate and anything he says can only weaken his support further, but his personal stance is hardly a secret and the military interceptors are under his full control.

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[–] nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I blame Trump for putting them in an impossible situation

[–] goferking0@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Implying any American president wouldn't do the same? (cough like Biden admin)

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[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Huh, I am curious to see how diplomatic/absolute immunity (just using the local jargon not colloquial terms) and that treaty mesh

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 11 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Not. Which is why Netanyahu avoided several countries like Spain, which would have provided him a more direct flight to the US.

The countries listed were Netanyahu's detour route where Israel exerts enough control to surpass their legal system.

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