Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday night that he planned to fly the Israeli airline El Al into Tel Aviv, after the FAA prohibited all US airlines from flying into that city’s Ben Gurion International Airport because a Hamas rocket had landed nearby.
“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,” Bloomberg said in a statement posted to his website. “Ben Gurion is the best protected airport in the world and El Al flights have been regularly flying in and out of it safely. The flight restrictions are a mistake that hands Hamas an undeserved victory and should be lifted immediately. I strongly urge the FAA to reverse course and permit US airlines to fly to Israel.”
Secretary of State John Kerry also flew into Ben Gurion on Wednesday despite the ban. Kerry arrived in the Middle East to try to broker a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas militants.
This post has been updated.
