Israel says it asked Canada for permission for Netanyahu to use Canadian airspace

Netanyahu flew over Eastern Canada for a third time; the Carney government won't say if it let him do it

The government of Israel told CBC News it sought permission from the government of Canada for wanted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to enter Canadian airspace.

However, the Israeli government spokesperson did not respond to a second question about whether that permission had been granted.

An Israeli government Boeing 767, known as the Wing of Zion, overflew Newfoundland and Nova Scotia carrying the Netanyahu to Washington, D.C., where his agenda included a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and attending the funeral of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.

The Israeli leader has been sought by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza since Nov. 21, 2024, when the ICC issued an arrest warrant for murder, persecution and using starvation as a method of warfare.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has previously said that he would arrest Netanyahu if he came to Canada. His predecessor Justin Trudeau had made the same pledge.

Spokesperson Audrey Champoux of the Prime Minister's Office declined to say whether Canada had granted permission, but said: "Canada does not currently link its overflight policy to law enforcement objectives except where an imminent security risk is present. This policy is regularly reviewed."

"Relatedly," she said, "Canada continues to call on Israel to comply with international law and abide by the terms of the ceasefire, including allowing humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. Additionally, we further call on Israel to respect Lebanon’s territorial integrity and adhere fully to the ceasefire."

Additionally, spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod of Global Affairs Canada (GAC) told CBC News that "Canada is committed to upholding international law and the decisions of international judicial bodies. Canada's position remains that, as a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, it must comply with its obligations under the Statute and under international law."

Carney government refuses to comment

But the same spokesperson declined to say whether the government of Canada had granted permission for Netanyahu to enter, suggesting that it was up to the leader of Israel to decide whether to use Canadian airspace. "Global Affairs Canada does not comment on which route a foreign state chooses to take."

"As a matter of law, it isn't up to Benjamin Netanyahu to choose where he gets to fly" if that means flying over Canada, said Mark Kersten, who teaches international law at the University of the Fraser Valley and wrote the book Justice in Conflict: The Effects of the International Criminal Court's Interventions on Ending Wars and Building Peace.

Canadian airspace is Canadian sovereign territory, which has no legal limit in terms of altitude, but which is usually held to extend to the Kármán line, 100 kimometres above sea level, where outer space begins.

Therefore an airplane overflying a country enters its national jurisdiction and is subject to its laws the moment it crosses its maritime boundary.

Kersten said that allowing Netanyahu to overfly Canada sends a dangerous message and sets a precedent that other foreigners may seek to take advantage of.

"When we're thinking about territorial integrity, you don't just think about the land," said Kersten. "You think about the seas nearby and the air above."

Kersten says it would be a mistake to take comfort in the fact that Netanyahu's plane did not land in Canada.

"It is our airspace. We have sovereign rights over that airspace. And whether it’s Netanyahu, or a Russian spy plane — and especially at a time when our sovereignty is being consistently called into question by the United States — it’s critical that we defend our sovereignty and that we articulate clearly to everyone that we will defend, and are in full control of, our territory, our coastal waters and the airspace above them."

Throwing caution to the wind

The government of Israel appears to have been more cautious when planning earlier prime ministerial flights from Tel Aviv to the United States, which manoeuvred to avoid Canadian airspace.

The Wing of Zion took a time-consuming, evasive route to the U.S. on Sept. 25, 2025, carrying Netanyahu over the waters of the Mediterranean and Atlantic rather than by the shorter, Great Circle route that passes over Greece, western Europe and Canada.

But when he travelled again on Dec. 29, 2025, he overflew Newfoundland and Nova Scotia en route to Florida. On Feb. 10 of this year, he was back over Canada, crossing Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick before entering U.S. airspace in Maine.

Canadian protocol requires foreign government flights to seek permission well before entering Canadian airspace.

"Applications for foreign state, military or scientific aircraft to operate within Canadian territory should be submitted at least three working days (72 hours) before the proposed date of entry into Canadian airspace," reads the government's website. "This advance notification is critical."

“It seems implausible that [the government of Canada] didn't allow this to happen on some level,” said Kersten.

Two possibilities

The fact that Netanyahu crossed Canadian airspace does not mean that Canada granted permission, and Israeli officials have only stated that they requested permission, not that they received it.

It's possible that Canada has refused permission, and the government of Israel has chosen to violate sovereignty anyway. If so, the government of Canada has allowed violations to pass with no public response.

Kersten said that Canada's commitment to do what it can to deliver war crimes accused to The Hague is "unambiguous ... and if they aren’t going to be surrendered to the ICC, then at least their world is supposed to shrink."

Kersten says the overflight undermines both international law and Canadian sovereignty.

"We seem to be playing fast and loose with a core sovereignty question at a time when I don't think Canada can really afford to not be clear as to whether it is willing to act to defend its own sovereignty."