Netanyahu’s unusual flight route to the UNpublished at 13:28 BST
13:28 BST
Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist
We’re expecting to hear Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak at the United Nations General Assembly at 14:00 BST.
We’ve been looking into online posts that have been questioning the route his official aircraft took to get to New York.
Flight-tracking data shows that the Wing of Zion, the principal Israeli state plane, left Tel Aviv and flew the length of the Mediterranean Sea to the Strait of Gibraltar before heading across the Atlantic.
While the route did take the aircraft through Greek and Italian airspace it avoided other European countries like France and Spain, adding around 663km (412 miles) to the length of the flight and extending the journey by about two hours compared with direct commercial flights from Tel Aviv to New York.
There have been widespread claims online that this route was selected to avoid countries that might enforce an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Netanyahu for alleged war crimes. Netanyahu has firmly denied the allegations.
Signatories to the ICC statute, which include France, Spain, the UK and Republic of Ireland, could be legally required to arrest Netanyahu and surrender him to The Hague-based court if he enters their territory.
Flight-tracking records show Netanyahu’s plane routinely flew over France before the arrest warrant was issued in November 2024.
Relations between Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron have deteriorated in recent months as France has joined the UK, Canada and Australia in recognising Palestinian statehood.
French diplomatic sources, however, have told BBC Verify that “France authorised the Israeli prime minister’s flight to overfly its territory,” but that the route ultimately taken was at the discretion of the Israeli authorities.
Spain, which recognised a Palestinian state last year, announced last week that it would support the ICC’s investigations by establishing a team to gather evidence of alleged human rights abuses in Gaza, according to the country’s attorney general.
The Spanish foreign ministry declined to comment when we asked them what, if any, action it would have taken if Netanyahu’s flight had entered its airspace.