ABNA24 - Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a sweeping international travel restriction, with 125 countries legally bound by their membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC) to arrest him if he enters their territory, according to a report.
Netanyahu “cannot visit today in 125 countries,” including major Western states that are among Israel’s closest allies and trading partners, the Hebrew edition of the Times of Israel, Zman Yisrael, reported on Monday.
The Israeli outlet said that the countries include France, Britain, Germany and Canada.
The restriction stems from an arrest warrant issued by the ICC in November 2024 against Netanyahu over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza which has killed at least 73,000 Palestinians, and wounded more than 17,000 others since it was waged in October 2023.
The Hague-based court holds Netanyahu responsible for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, as well as the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.
The practical impact has already been visible in Netanyahu’s foreign travel, with his aircraft taking alternative routes to avoid the airspace of ICC member states.
Netanyahu has avoided events in countries where the warrant could be enforced, including the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, because Switzerland is an ICC member state, the report noted.
Since the warrant took effect, Netanyahu has visited only one ICC member state where the warrant applies, Hungary in April 2025.
The report said that the restriction is not merely a diplomatic inconvenience, writing that “if Netanyahu cannot visit most countries in the world, including most Western powers, it is impossible to see this as ‘a superior international standing’ — but rather international isolation.”
Netanyahu can technically travel to around 70 countries that are not members of the ICC, but the majority have no diplomatic relations with Israel or have strained ties with the regime.
Meanwhile, Washington has stepped up its pressure campaign against the ICC since the court issued the warrant, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the administration of US President Donald Trump was working to “dismantle” the tribunal.
The US has imposed sanctions on ICC officials involved in the Israel investigation and pressed the court’s member states to withdraw from the institution.
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