Israel Attempts to Lure Back International Airlines as Long-Term Flight Cancellations Continue

Latest Developments

• Israeli Air Law Proposal Seeks to Reduce Cancellation Risks for Airlines: Israel’s Knesset Economic Committee approved a proposal to change Israel’s aviation law on January 1 in an effort to entice foreign carriers to resume their routes to and from Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. The proposal, which will ease the financial penalties imposed on airlines when they cancel flights, requires second and third readings in the Knesset to become law. It will also provide a safety net for airlines looking to establish routes between Israel and the United States.
• Despite Reduced Attacks, Foreign Carriers Still Not Flying: All non-Israeli airlines with direct flights from the United States canceled their routes after the Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023, which were accompanied by rocket barrages launched by Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. This left Israel’s national airline, El Al, as the sole operator of direct flights to Israel from the United States. Brief resumptions in flights in the spring and summer of 2024 were quickly reversed after a missile and drone attack against Israel by Iran in April and increasing attacks by Hezbollah in September. Delta Airlines and American Airlines have canceled flights through March, while United Airlines has suspended flights until further notice. European carriers have also suspended flights, including Air France, which extended its suspension until January 31, and Dutch carrier KLM, which extended its suspension until the end of March.
• Lawmakers Criticize Airline Decisions: U.S. lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have voiced concern that the cancelations constitute a de-facto boycott of Israel and have questioned whether anti-Israel bias is a factor. “One of the things that Iran is trying to accomplish is to isolate Israel economically. This is just another sign of that,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Jewish Insider in April. In August, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) sent a letter to the CEOs of American air carriers, urging them to resume flights, writing, “Airlines should be prohibited from effectively boycotting or otherwise discriminating against the world’s only Jewish State.”

FDD Expert Response

“We are at a point where it strains credulity to claim this is anything other than a politically motivated decision. A boycott of Israel by major American carriers should become a matter of interest to Senate Commerce, House Transportation, the incoming Departments of Transportation and Commerce, and U.S. states with anti-BDS laws that might be compelled to divest their pension funds.” — Richard Goldberg, Senior Advisor

“With the heavy fighting over and Israel’s adversaries seriously weakened, airlines continuing to avoid Israel are engaging in a soft boycott under the guise of safety. Though airlines and other groups doing so are not lending support to the ideology calling for Israel’s destruction, they are participating in its implementation by isolating the Jewish state.” — David May, FDD Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst

“These cancelations have ended up rewarding terrorist attacks and Iranian threats, essentially leading to a boycott of Israel by some commercial airlines. It is essential that these airlines are pressed for answers as to why they continue to cancel flights to Israel. Airlines may have had some legitimate concerns when the conflict began, but today, Israel has shown it can defeat enemies and protect its airspace.” — Seth J. Frantzman, Adjunct Fellow

FDD Background and Analysis

“Airline flight cancellation chaos to Israel is unsustainable,” by Seth J. Frantzman

“State Laws on Israel Boycotts Hold Up in Court,” by Richard Goldberg