Yoav Galant.Photo: AA.
Former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Galant is scheduled to visit Washington on 1 December for talks with senior US officials. This will be his first trip abroad since his release on 21 November, when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then Defence Minister. Prime Minister Netanyahu had previously banned Galant from visiting the United States, but the situation changed after his resignation. According to the Time Ukraine Israel portal, citing Vesty, the former minister will leave Israel on board El Al Airlines. However, this flight carries a certain risk, given the current ICC warrants.
Risk of forced landing
In the event of unforeseen circumstances that could lead to an emergency landing of Galant’s aircraft in one of the 124 ICC member states, the former defence minister could be arrested pursuant to a court order. Although the United States does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC, so it will not detain Gallant, any incident involving an emergency landing in another country could put him at risk of arrest. This issue has become particularly sensitive after the warrants issued for the Israeli leadership.
Netanyahu, who is still in the government, has the option of using the official Knaf Tzion aircraft (Air Force One) for diplomatic missions, which gives him some flexibility to bypass the air corridors of the ISS member states. However, Galant, choosing a commercial carrier flight, will be less protected from such risks.
International tensions and the threat from Iran
Against this backdrop, the statements of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei add to the tension. Khamenei openly called for not only the arrest but also the death sentence for Israeli leaders, stressing that Israel’s military actions against Lebanon and Gaza are, in his view, war crimes. Khamenei stressed that the ICC should go further and bring the Israeli leadership to justice with the harshest sentence possible.
It is expected that Gallant’s visit to Washington will be aimed at strengthening military cooperation and support from the United States. However, a visit to the country in such circumstances could also have serious consequences for Israel’s international image and cause outrage among supporters of the ICC.
