American billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced yesterday that he is flying to Tel Aviv to show solidarity with Israel, and called upon the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to immediately withdraw its decision to suspend all US airline flights to Israel due to fear that a Hamas rocket may hit Ben Gurion International Airport.
Bloomberg’s position is completely against that of the US government, which fully backs the FAA decision. Bloomberg has called upon the FAA to immediately reverse its decision on the grounds that cancelling flights is a victory for Hamas.
Last night, the FAA announced that it is suspending all flights by US airlines to and from Israel. The decision set off a domino effect, with European airlines following suit, and deciding to suspend all flights to and from Israel, due to the security situation, as well. At present, only Israeli carriers are operating out of Ben Gurion Airport.
“This evening, I will be flying on El Al to Tel Aviv to show solidarity with the Israeli people and to demonstrate that it is safe to fly in and out of Israel. Ben Gurion is the best protected airport in the world and El Al flights have been regularly flying in and out safely,” Bloomberg said.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 23, 2014
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014