Israel’s prime minister was notably absent from this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, a decision widely understood as driven by legal exposure linked to alleged war crimes. Israeli media reported that concerns over possible arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant led him to forgo travel to Switzerland, a country bound by the Court’s statute. In his place, the country’s president attended meetings on the sidelines of the forum, engaging with European officials while the prime minister remained at home.

During those encounters, the president lamented the lack of senior Israeli representation at the gathering and urged that international arrest warrants issued against Israeli officials be withdrawn. He characterised the Court’s actions as politically motivated, yet avoided addressing the substance of the allegations that underpin the case. Those allegations relate to conduct during the ongoing genocidal war in Gaza, a campaign that has devastated civilian life and drawn unprecedented legal scrutiny at the highest international level.

The Court, which issued the warrants in 2024, has stated that there are reasonable grounds to believe that senior Israeli leaders bear responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity. These include the deliberate targeting of civilians, the use of starvation as a method of warfare, and acts amounting to murder and persecution. All states party to the Rome Statute have been formally notified and are legally obliged to arrest named individuals should they enter their territory, a reality that has reshaped diplomatic travel and public appearances.

Since the start of the genocidal war, the overseas presence of Israeli officials and representatives has increasingly provoked public demonstrations, with protesters demanding accountability rather than immunity. The prime minister’s absence from Davos has therefore been read not merely as a scheduling choice, but as a visible sign of how international law is beginning to constrain political mobility, even at elite global forums.