Passengers on the first jet to Israel from a New York-area airport Thursday blasted the federal government for the two-day ban on commercial flights to Tel Aviv, saying it made no sense.
“It’s a victory for Hamas. If El Al can fly, why not other carriers?” fumed Israeli Bracha Shapira of Beersheba, who was waiting to board the 4:45 p.m. United flight from Newark to Tel Aviv.
Shapira, a professor who was in New York for a conference, was traveling with her sister, Batsheva Chein, from Modi’in.
“The Israel airport is the most secure airport ever. Hamas said, ‘We won! We closed the air!’ I’m not at all nervous to fly, I’m very excited to get home,” Chein said.
Amit Aderet, an Israeli living in San Francisco, had booked a flight Tuesday for a trip to visit family in Israel with his wife and three daughters.
“We’ve been stuck in New York for two days. Of course they should have flown. There was no reason,” griped Aderet, 43, about the FAA’s decision barring US carriers from flying to Tel Aviv.
Sara Fox, a writer originally from Boston who has lived in Jerusalem for a decade, called the FAA’s decision an overreaction.
“A missile fell by Tel Aviv. It was one and it wasn’t close to the airport. I think it was wrong. It wasn’t necessary,” said Fox, whose original flight was canceled Wednesday.
She also praised former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg for taking an El Al flight to Israel to circumvent the ban and for pressuring the feds to rescind it.
“I think it’s fantastic that Mayor Bloomberg flew. We should all follow his example,” Fox said.
Bloomberg himself hailed the FAA for changing course.
“The FAA’s decision to lift its ban on flights by US air carriers to Tel Aviv will benefit Americans, Israelis and the cause of peace. I applaud the agency for its action,” Bloomberg said.
On the ground, Israeli tank shells hit a compound housing a UN school in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens who were seeking shelter from fierce clashes on the streets.
Dozens of others were also killed in a day of heavy fighting, raising the Palestinian death toll to at least 788. Israel has lost 32 soldiers and two Israeli civilians, as well as a Thai worker.
Also Thursday, 150 Palestinians — about 70 of them suspected Hamas terrorists — emerged from hiding in Gaza with their hands in the air and meekly surrendered to Israeli forces, the Times of Israel reported.
The suspected Hamas operatives were taken to a detention facility to be interrogated while the others were released.
Secretary of State John Kerry spent the day in Cairo, Egypt, calling on regional leaders to help broker a ceasefire.
In New York, supermarket chain Morton Williams said it would ban products from Turkey in response to that country’s boycotts of Israeli products and support of Hamas.