Flying Over Southern Europe Aboard the "Wings of Zion"
To address the tariff bomb issue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who embarked on a visit to the United States, reportedly took a detour to avoid the execution of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, according to foreign media.
On the evening of the 6th (local time), Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, arrived at Washington DC airport in the United States. Photo by Yonhap News
On the 7th (local time), Times of Israel and others reported that after completing his schedule in Hungary the previous day, Prime Minister Netanyahu boarded Israel's private plane, "Wings of Zion," and arrived in the United States via southern European airspace.
The shortest route from Budapest, Hungary to Washington D.C., USA passes over the airspace of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the waters off Iceland. However, since these countries have expressed their intention to execute the ICC arrest warrant issued against Netanyahu, the Prime Minister could not ignore the possibility that the private plane might have to make an emergency landing in one of these countries during the flight.
Ultimately, Netanyahu chose a detour route through Croatia, Italy, and France, which granted airspace access to the "Wings of Zion," increasing the flight distance by approximately 400 km compared to the shortest route.
In May last year, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan requested arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu, then Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and senior leaders of the Palestinian armed faction Hamas on charges of war crimes. The ICC court issued the warrants in November of the same year. According to the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC, the 124 member countries are, in principle, obligated to execute arrest warrants issued by the ICC.
However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb?n invited Netanyahu to his country, stating that Hungary would not execute the ICC warrant, and declared Hungary's withdrawal from the ICC immediately after Netanyahu arrived in Budapest on the 3rd. The United States also added Prosecutor Khan to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list in February.
On this day, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet President Trump at the White House to discuss the 17% reciprocal tariff imposed by the United States on Israel and to issue a joint statement. He also plans to meet with Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and others to discuss Middle East issues such as the Gaza Strip war.
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