The Israeli Pilots’ Association (ISRALPA) announced on Tuesday that two Emirati airlines had canceled their participation in a flyover celebrating Israel’s 74th Independence Day. The airlines, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and Etihad Airways, were scheduled to send aircraft for the planned May 5 flyover that is an Israeli Air Force tradition for Independence Day.
ISRALPA released a statement on Twitter saying Wizz Air Abu Dhabi had notified it of the flyover cancellation shortly after news broke that Israel’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates had been summoned over recent violence at the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
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Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, UAE minister of state for international cooperation, summoned Israeli Ambassador Amir Hayek to “strongly protest and denounce the events taking place in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque,” according to a statement by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on Tuesday. The UAE protested the “attacks on civilians and incursions into holy places that resulted in the injury of a number of civilians,” the statement said.
Earlier in the day, ISRALPA announced that Etihad would not take part in the flyover.