Senior officials at Ben Gurion Airport are recommending the immediate closure of Israeli airspace, Channel 13 reported Sunday — a move that could cut off one of the last remaining options for the thousands of Americans still stranded in Israel and desperately trying to reach their families before Pesach.
The report comes after Iranian missiles scored direct hits in three Israeli cities in 24 hours.
According to the report, a significant and potentially heated discussion is expected to take place this evening at Ben Gurion Airport, with participation from senior aviation and security officials. The meeting will bring together senior figures from Israel’s operations and security sectors, including Airports Authority chairman Shmuel Zakay and the Director-General of the Israel Airports Authority, along with representatives from the Transportation Ministry and the police.
At the center of the discussion is a proposal by professional officials to close the airport entirely and operate only essential flights.
Currently, around 10,000 passengers pass through the airport each day, but aviation officials are pushing for a complete shutdown of Israeli airspace, rather than the limited operating format currently in place.
Last week, Channel 13 reported that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) appealed to Minister Regev to use her authority to declare the aviation situation in Israel a state of emergency. Airlines are seeking such a declaration so they will not be required to bear the full cost of compensating Israeli passengers stranded abroad due to the war.
Under normal conditions, airlines are obligated to cover hotel accommodations when flights are canceled and to arrange alternative flights for passengers.
However, a legislative amendment approved last May allows the transportation minister to declare a special aviation status. In such a case, airlines are required to cover only two days of expenses and are not obligated to provide alternative flights—only refunds for canceled tickets.
With Pesach just a week and a half away, thousands of American travelers remain in Israel, many of them racing against the clock to secure seats on any available flight back to the United States. Should the closure be implemented, it would effectively seal off one of the few remaining options for those still hoping to get out.
Many major international carriers have already suspended service to Israel since the outbreak of war, leaving El Al shouldering the bulk of passenger traffic in and out of the country, though even its flights have been beset by cancelations, chaos, and limited seating.
No timeline for a final decision has been announced.
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12 Responses
Travel crisis! The Americans in Israel won’t be able to return to the u.s. and have to spend yom tov with hundred of thousands of jews in Israel. Nebech.
@nanacnachma13 I keep seeing these insensitive comments. Imagine being a seminary girl away from home for a long period for the first time in your life. A war breaks out, you have no family in Israel, most of your friends got out, and your stuck. Your seminary teachers are overwhelmed with their own kids having no school and pesach prep, so they can’t really be there for you. You are alone and scared. Finally you get on a flight expected to get you home on time. Every day you are worried it will be cancelled again. You see this article and your heart sinks. You feel like crying. Then you see this heartless comment from someone comfortably with their family.
Do better.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
@nanach…: …. and may not be able prepare for Pessach for their families and celebrate with them… as well as many Israelis waiting to get home for Pessach as well… – not to mention the countless humanitarian cases urgently need to get home.
I would also like to direct you to https://ezrasachim.org/donate/?dedication=Save_Their_Pesach_Emergency_Appeal who are appealing to help the thousands young families making the first time Pessach due to the emergency situation.
Egypt remains a possibility so nobody is stuck
@nancnachma13 maybe have a little sensitivity towards those who might not be able to come back and spend pesach with their families. Many of these are yeshiva bochurs or sem girls and they just want to go home. Then keep in mind that they are running in and out of bomb shelters.
Yes!
Some people like to be with their families for YT, as they are nice ppl to spend time with, and have a positive outlook on life.
You guys make it sound like these Yeshiva bochrim and sem girls are 10 year old babies. If they are mature enough to be overseas and to hopefully get married soon, then not being home for Pesach shouldn’t be a crisis of epic proportions. They are still eating 3 meals a day and can sleep on a mattress under a roof. Grow up and stop whining
W
The Iran war will end the Shidduch crisis. Here is why. Girls coming back will probably start dating instead of returning to seminary after Pesach.
The Iran war will end the Shidduch crisis. Here is why. Girls coming back will probably start dating instead of returning to seminary after Pesach. If there would not be a war they would have to be waiting another year according to latest takanah decree in the yeshivasa world. In Heaven they want the girls to marry not be forced to wait till twenty years old. Let them marry at 18. Boys too will return to America and get married younger and learn in kollel.
God forbid the Seminary offers to take care of the girls this year on the 35k that they paid instead of locking the dorm and telling them to get lost
Some young couples and their 1 or two toddlers are traumatized from running to and from shelters several times a day and countless times in the middle of the night. Young mothers with no relatives other than their husband and some friends – true, they’re in there 20s and were old enough to marry – but are now frazzled already. They need a reprieve! What can’t you פארגין them? My granddaughter for one is an asthmatic and the constant running to shelter has taken a toll on the parents. They need a reprieve! Can’t you פארגין them a trip back to the states for Yom Tov? Think about it and find the soft spot in your heart.