The French government faces accusations of breaching its legal duties by permitting the flight of charged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over its airspace for the third time in two months.
Last weekend, Netanyahu, who received an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for war crimes in Gaza, travelled from Hungary to the United States, passing through Croatian, Italian, and French airspace along the way. In February, a plane transporting Netanyahu from Israel to the US flew over Greece, Italy, and France. Reports indicate that the return flight followed a similar inverse path.
As parties to the Rome Statute, France, Croatia, and Italy are obligated to apprehend anyone charged by the ICC.
There has been disagreement among legal experts regarding the French government’s interpretation of its obligations. The Association of Jurists for the Respect of International Law (Jurdi), uniting French legal professionals and specialists to advance the use of international law concerning Israel-Palestine, said that Paris’ legal responsibility extends to airspace.
In a letter to President Emmanuel Macron, Jurdi stated that Paris likely perpetrated a “serious violation” of its international obligations if it pre-authorised access to its airspace. It referenced the Convention on International Civil Aviation, signed in Chicago in 1944, which states that airspace is an integral part of a nation’s territory where it holds sovereignty.
Consequently, Jurdi stated that France must “arrest anyone who holds an arrest warrant found within its borders, including via air travel. “
Not adhering to this would undermine the integrity of the Rome Statute and raise concerns about the effectiveness of the fight against impunity for those who commit the gravest international crimes,” the jurists wrote.
France bears responsibility for its actions
Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli defence minister, the ICC is pursuing these individuals for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the war in Gaza. They face accusations of using starvation against civilians as a warfare tactic, deliberately inflicting immense suffering, intentional killings, targeting civilian populations, and extermination, among other allegations.
Netanyahu extended his flight from Budapest to Washington by 400 km on Sunday, citing concerns over flying over nations that might enforce the arrest warrant, according to Israeli media reports.
Israeli officials anticipated that Ireland, Iceland, and the Netherlands would execute the ICC warrant if the Wing of Zion state plane required an emergency landing. Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the US, recently disclosed that the flight on February 2 was extended for this very reason. In recent months, France has faced criticism for implying it would not detain Netanyahu, asserting he was “immune” due to his position as a senior state official.
Posting a picture of Netanyahu’s flight path, French lawmaker Clemence Guette stated that the Israeli prime minister “should have been intercepted and arrested” over the weekend. “By protecting a criminal, France is complicit in his crimes,” Guette said. “In Gaza, children are still dying under the tyrant Netanyahu’s bombs. Stop the genocide.”
