Netanyahu's Boeing 767 Takes Circuitous Route To New York, Likely Due To Arrest Warrant

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently making his way across the North Atlantic Ocean on board a VIP-configured Boeing 767 belonging to his country’s military. This, in itself, is not out of the ordinary, with his presence expected at the ongoing UN General Assembly in New York.

What has raised eyebrows about this particular flight, however, is the fact that his aircraft took a very specific and circuitous route through the Mediterranean on its way from Israel to the Atlantic, rather than overflying mainland Europe as might have been expected. It is thought that the reason for this is the fact that certain nations have arrest warrants for Netanyahu, even though overflights had been permitted.

The Long Way Round

According to current tracking data made available by Flightradar24, Netanyahu’s Israeli Air Force Boeing 767-300ER, which One Mile At A Time notes bears the registration 4X-ISR and the name ‘Wing of Zion,’ took to the skies just after 05:00 this morning. The widebody twinjet departed Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) in Tel Aviv and headed west for New York JFK, but not in the manner you might expect.

Indeed, as far as commercial services go, today’s iteration of El Al flight LY1 from Tel Aviv to JFK flew a direct great circle routing to the northwest over mainland Europe. However, as pictured above, Netanyahu’s 767 wound its way through the Mediterranean in an attempt not to overfly the continent. According to The Times of Israel, France gave the jet permission to use its airspace, but a spokesperson said:

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

As detailed in the table below, based on the latest tracking data from Flightradar24 at the time of writing, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Boeing 767 is expected to touch down in the United States of America just before 11:00 this morning. But why exactly did the first few hours of its flight take such an odd route?

According to CNN, Netanyahu’s office has not publicly disclosed the reason for this morning’s circuitous route. However, it is thought that the unusual flight path concerns the arrest warrant that has been issued to the Prime Minister for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Israel’s ongoing military action in Gaza. This was issued by the International Criminal Court in 2024.

The terms of the warrant reportedly dictate that, if Netanyahu were to overfly International Criminal Court member nations, these countries would have the authority to force his aircraft to land and arrest him. It is thought that this is the reason why his jet avoided French and Spanish airspace in particular this morning, although, as noted, France had permitted him to overfly despite the warrant.

The Aircraft Has A Diverse Service History

As previously mentioned, Benjamin Netanyahu’s aircraft of choice for his transatlantic journey from Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International to New York JFK Airport is a Boeing 767-300ER flown by the Israeli Air Force that bears the registration 4X-ISR. According to ch-aviation, this twinjet is 25.32 years old.

Interestingly enough, the US-built widebody hasn’t always served as a VIP aircraft for the armed forces and government of Israel. Indeed, having first flown on June 6, 2000, it was delivered to Qantas 13 days later, with the Australian flag carrier having ordered it back in December of 1999. At the time, it bore the registration VH-OGV, which it retained for the three years it spent at Australian Airlines.

Australian Airlines was a low-cost all-767 operator that Qantas resurrected to operate budget services to and from destinations in Asia, and VH-OGV served this particular carrier from October 2003 to June 2006. After returning to Qantas, the jet spent almost another seven years at the oneworld founding member, before leaving in November 2013. Israel picked it up just under four years later, in September 2017.