U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flew into Tel Aviv, Israel, for diplomatic parleys on Wednesday despite the Federal Aviation Administration’s “Notice to Airmen” on Tuesday informing U.S. airlines that they were “prohibited from flying to or from Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport for a period of up to 24 hours.”
The FAA NOTAM was issued in response to a rocket strike that landed approximately one mile from the airport on the morning of Tuesday morning, and it clarified that it applied only to U.S. operators, and had no authority over foreign airlines operating to or from the airport.
Within hours of the FAA action, the European Aviation Safety Agency also “strongly recommended,” that airlines refrain from flying to and from Tel Aviv and other carriers worldwide were said to have suspended flights.
In this context, did Mr. Kerry take a significant risk in the interest of peace negotiations in Gaza, which has been engulfed by a violent clash between the Hamas group and Israeli military forces?
That would appear to be the case according to reporters travelling on Mr. Kerry’s aircraft.
One of them, Agence-France Press’ Shaun Tandon, tweeted a photo taken from inside the aircraft showing it landing at Ben Gurion Airport, saying, “View from Kerry plane as landing in Tel Aviv despite FAA warning #Gaza.”
Asked whether the aircraft had any anti-missile measures Mr. Tandon wrote, “Don’t think so. To naked eye looks like regular 757, albeit with ‘USA’ livery.”
