Israeli PM’s plane took a 2-hour detour on Singapore-Sydney flight just to dodge Indonesian airspace

Ask any Indonesian which country they hate the most and many (particularly Muslims) would probably say Israel.

(And that’s not just our conjecture – a BBC World Service Poll from 2014 showed that 75% of Indonesians view Israel’s influence negatively.)

Indonesia holds no formal diplomatic relations with Israel, particularly since the world’s biggest Muslim nation has always staunchly supported Palestine’s cause of becoming an independent state.

That probably had something to do with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent circuitous travel plans.

Netanyahu flew from Singapore to Sydney yesterday. If you know basic geography, then you’re aware that Indonesia lies directly between Singapore and Australia. But, as reported in The Guardian, Netanyahu’s flight avoided Indonesian airspace altogether, adding at least 2 hours to his journey.

The Washington Post posted an illustration of Netanyahu’s flight path, which shows that the Israeli PM’s flight took over 11 hours, compared to the 7-and-a-half hours usually needed to get from Singapore to Sydney.

Analysis: The strange route Benjamin Netanyahu took to get from Singapore to Sydneyhttps://t.co/xT0nvsYya6

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 22, 2017

But perhaps that’s to be expected. El Al, Israel’s flag carrier that operated Netanyahu’s flight, is banned from flying in the airspace of many Muslim nations, such as Pakistan.

Despite the lack of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries, Indonesia actually sanctions some travel and trade agreements with Israel. Not enough to allow its leader to save some time off of his trip though, apparently.