FAA Cancellation Of Flights To Israel Ends

 

The FAA just ended the ban on flights by American carriers to Israel. Some European carriers are still continuing the ban.

The new determination came, ostensibly, following an FAA security review with U.S. officials. The FAA did leave the door open to the possibility of reinstating the ban:

“Before making this decision, the FAA worked with its U.S. government counterparts to assess the security situation in Israel and carefully reviewed both significant new information and measures the Government of Israel is taking to mitigate potential risks to civil aviation,” the FAA said. “The agency will continue to closely monitor the very fluid situation around Ben Gurion Airport and will take additional actions, as necessary.”

Now that we have that bit of bureaucratic horse manure out of the way, the real story.

The ban, which gave a huge victory to Hamas made the Israelis absolutely livid, and with good reason. The attempt to arm twist Israel into a ceasefire to protect the Hamas status quo by the Obama Administration backfired badly as PM Netanyahu explained to Secretary Kerry today. It has had just the opposite effect, energizing the Israelis to finish off Hamas and weakening American influence.

 

It also polled very poorly in what is still a largely pro-Israel country. Senator Ted Cruz made headlines asking out loud if this was 'the beginning of an economic boycott' against Israel by the Obama Administration.Cruz even threatened to hold up all State Department nominees unless the Obama Administration answered questions about the Israel travel ban.

 

And at the other end of the spectrum former Mayor Michael Bloomberg lambasted the ban, even hopping on a plane to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv to show his solidarity with Israel and how ridiculous the ban was.

Another factor of course is that Israeli airlines  El Al and Arkia were ramping up flights to America and the American carriers were not happy at losing the business.

So the ban, at least as far as the FAA is concerned is over. The Obama regime gained nothing from it except a lot of ill will from Israel and its supporters.

Obama And The EU Give Huge Prize To Hamas

 

The FAA has banned U.S. carriers from flying to Israel until further notice due to a Hamas rocket hitting a house a mile away from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport.

The FAA advisory reads:

The notice was issued in response to a rocket strike which landed approximately one mile from Ben Gurion International Airport on the morning ... [and] applies only to U.S. operators, and has no authority over foreign airlines operating to or from the airport

The EU was quick to follow along with The European Aviation Safety Agency telling France's AFP it would issue a "strong recommendation to avoid until further notice Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport."

This not only affects Israel economically (this is the height of the tourist season in Israel), but increases Israel's sense of isolation during wartime, and that is deliberate.

Both the Obama Administration and the EU want to stop Israel's offensive in Gaza and preserve Hamas' Islamist reichlet. This is their way of increasing pressure on Israel to leave Hamas in place.

Just imagine what would happen if President Obama made a clear statement  slamming Hamas for the war crime of targeting a civilian airport and threatened to cut off all funding for Hamas/Fatah  unless the rocket fire at Israel's civilians stopped immediately? But not this  president.

 

As Israeli Transport Minister Yisrael Katz said, this was a ridiculous overreaction. "There is no reason for these companies to stop flights. They have given a prize to terror."

After all, Malaysia Airline Flight 17, was traveling through an area with no international restrictions
when it was shot down over the Ukraine, where an armed conflict was known to exist.

I advise anyone traveling to Israel to take El Al.

On the plus side,this provides an incentive for Israel to step up its offensive and take out Hamas once and for all. And it also shows why 'Palestine' in Judea and Samaria shouldn't be based on the pre '67 lines, if it exists at all.

As an aside, President Obama has already pledged $47 million of your tax dollars to Hamas/Fatah for 'rebuilding' in Gaza, plus an additional $15 million to UNRWA ...and not a dime to Israel for its own rebuilding. Since he has to be  aware that the money he gave Hamas for 'rebuilding Gaza' and 'humanitarian aid' went to building Hamas' terrorist infrastructure and the tunnels the Israelis are now fighting to destroy, there's no mistaking where his sympathies lie. 

Delta, United Suspend Flights To Israel

 

Delta, United and US Airways have canceled all flights to Israel and have suspended service until further notice, after a Hamas rocket landed near Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport,damaging a house and wounding an Israeli.

A Delta Boeing 747 from New York was flying over the Mediterranean headed for Tel Aviv on Tuesday when it turned around and flew to Paris instead. Flight 468 had 273 passengers and 17 crew on board.

“We are suspending operations to/from Tel Aviv until further notice,” said United Spokeswoman Jennifer Dohm. “We are working with government officials to ensure the safety of our customers and our employees and will continue to evaluate the situation."

There are plenty of other carriers still servicing Israel, including the legendary El Al, so those of you who are traveling to Israel have alternatives. Actually, I can't imagine why anyone flying to Israel would choose any other carrier than El Al, for sheer safety and amenities if nothing else.

 

But now you know yet another reason Hamas must be utterly defeated, and why Israel is insisting on retaining control of the Jordan Valley so the Arabs who identify themselves as Palestinians can't get their hands on the same sort of toys Hamas is using.

It's also a very good argument in general against 'Palestine' as a state...especially since Fatah and Hamas have now dropped the pretense and are partnered up.

The Ultimate Scam - A Year's Worth Of Free Food And Drink For The Price Of An Airline Ticket

 

I have to admit, the sheer ingenuity of this tickled me.

A Chinese man successfully used a single First Class plane ticket to eat and drink for free for a year.

His strategy? Ridiculously simple....book, eat and repeat.

Once he found out that the voucher on his first class ticket entitled him to partake in the VIP amenities at China’s Xi’an Airport which included a free meal at the lounge, he simply flashed the ticket, feasted on dishes which included a full buffet and ”Western food”. And then, instead of leaving through the gate,he just re-booked his flight for the next day!

According to the newspaper, staff members from China Eastern Airlines finally realized that the itinerary for one ticket had been postponed hundreds of times. So they began to investigate.

But once our friend realized that the game was over, he simply canceled his ticket, got a full refund, and left.

The airline told the media the company had no way to stop such a “rare act.”

Nor was there really anything they could do, really. The man was a First class ticket holder, really and he was entitled to eat at the VIP lounge..and there's really no way to prove that he changed his flight over 300 times just to chow down at China Eastern Airlines' expense.

So what we have here is the perfect crime, a year's worth of free food and drink that cost nothing except the price of a First Class airplane ticket..which was cashed in for a full refund!

I'm going to have to avoid using the old cliche about there being no such thing as a free lunch.