ICC arrest warrant sends Netanyahu into hiding as he skips the Davos World Economic Forum over Gaza war crimes
His absence was louder than any speech.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu skipped attendance at the 2026 World Economic Forum and Trump’s Board of Peace meeting at Davos. Why? He knew he wouldn’t make it past the airport.
The World Economic Forum held its 56th annual meeting from Jan. 19 to Jan. 23, 2026, at Davos, Switzerland. The five-day summit saw nearly 3,000 global leaders from over 130 countries, but not Benjamin Netanyahu. One would think he skipped it because of scheduling conflicts, domestic crises, or a sudden case of being too busy. But fear of arrest for alleged war crimes is not usually the reason that pops up in our minds. And yet, that is precisely why Netanyahu did not attend the meeting.
According to The New Arab, Netanyahu was concerned that he could be arrested under the International Criminal Court arrest warrant. The ICC issued warrant against him in Nov. 2024, over alleged war crimes in Gaza. And Switzerland is a signatory to the Rome Statute, meaning it is legally obligated to cooperate with ICC warrants. So, in Netanyahu’s place, Israeli President Isaac Herzog attended the forum.
Herzog used the platform to denounce the ICC warrants as “politically motivated” on Tuesday. It was diplomacy by proxy. He urged the ICC to end what he called “illegitimate sanctions” against Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. Herzog argued that the measures are preventing senior Israeli ministers from participating in global forums.
“It is unacceptable that shameful international politics – repeatedly weaponized against the State of Israel – are being used by international legal forums to prevent senior Israelis in the only democracy in the Middle East from attending the World Economic Forum summit in Davos.” (via The Jerusalem Post)
Herzog also insisted that Israel’s leaders and decision makers should be “welcomed everywhere, on every stage.” He claimed that Israel is “defending the entire free world against the Iranian regime’s empire of evil.” In that context, Herzog labeled the ICC warrants an outright “reward for terror.”
“Preventing Netanyahu, or, for that matter, former defense minister Gallant, from attending a global forum aiming to shape the future of the Middle East by such legal means is a reward for terror.”
Netanyahu also couldn’t join Trump’s Board of Peace meeting at Davos
The timings make the optics worse. Just one day earlier, on Jan. 21, Netanyahu’s office announced that he had accepted Trump’s invitation to join the newly announced “Board of Peace.” The U.S.-led body is supposedly aimed at rebuilding Gaza. Yes, the same Gaza whose destruction under Netanyahu’s government is the basis for the ICC warrant.
A charter signing ceremony for Trump’s Board of Peace took place in Davos on Thursday, Jan. 22. Netanyahu, again, was not there. So Netanyahu accepted a seat on a peace board in theory, but he could not safely attend the physical signing of that board. And that is because of his actions that go against peace. And it’s not stone-pelting or something. He is charged with committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. How very ironic. The contradiction just wrote itself.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
