Canada's silence on Netanyahu overflight raises sovereignty questions

On Monday, an Israeli government Boeing 767 crossed into Canadian airspace carrying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toward Washington, D.C., where he was scheduled to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and attend a funeral. The Israeli government later told CBC News it had requested permission from Canada for this overflight across Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Canada's government has refused to say whether it granted that permission—or even to confirm the basic fact of what happened in its own skies.

This silence matters because Netanyahu is wanted. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him on November 21, 2024, alleging murder, persecution, and using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has previously stated he would arrest Netanyahu if the Israeli leader entered Canada. His predecessor, Justin Trudeau, made the same pledge. Yet the plane crossed Canadian territory without incident, and the government offered no explanation.

When pressed, officials offered only procedural deflection. Audrey Champoux, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office, declined to confirm whether Canada had granted permission. Instead, she noted that Canada does not ordinarily link its overflight policy to law enforcement objectives except where an imminent security risk exists. Charlotte MacLeod of Global Affairs Canada added that the department does not comment on which routes foreign states choose to take. The implication was clear: the decision belonged to Israel, not Canada. But that claim does not withstand scrutiny.

Mark Kersten, an international law professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, argues that Canadian airspace is Canadian sovereign territory, extending upward to the Kármán line at 100 kilometres altitude where outer space begins. Any aircraft that crosses a country's maritime boundary enters its national jurisdiction and becomes subject to its laws. Protocol requires foreign government flights to submit applications at least 72 hours before entering Canadian airspace. "It isn't up to Benjamin Netanyahu to choose where he gets to fly," Kersten said, "if that means flying over Canada." The decision belongs to Canada alone.

What makes this moment particularly striking is the pattern. In September 2025, Netanyahu's plane took a circuitous route over the Mediterranean and Atlantic to avoid Canadian airspace entirely—a time-consuming detour that suggests Israeli officials were then cautious about crossing Canadian territory. But by December 2025, the plane overflew Newfoundland and Nova Scotia en route to Florida. In February 2026, it crossed Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick. The trajectory suggests either that Canada began granting permission, or that Israel decided to risk violation without consequence.

Kersten warns that Canada's silence creates two equally troubling scenarios. If Canada granted permission, it has abandoned its commitment to international law and its own stated position on the ICC arrest warrant. If Canada refused permission and Israel violated Canadian airspace anyway, Canada has allowed that violation to pass without public response or consequence. Either way, the government has failed to defend its sovereignty. "When we're thinking about territorial integrity, you don't just think about the land," Kersten said. "You think about the seas nearby and the air above."

The stakes extend beyond Netanyahu. Kersten argues that allowing this overflight sets a precedent that other foreign actors—Russian spy planes, for instance—may seek to exploit. At a moment when Canadian sovereignty is already being questioned by the United States, the silence sends a message that Canada is unwilling or unable to control its own airspace. "It seems implausible that the government of Canada didn't allow this to happen on some level," Kersten said. The question now is whether Canada will clarify its position or continue to speak in evasions while foreign leaders transit its skies.