Plan To Allow Palestinians To Fly From Israel to Turkey Postponed

An Israeli pilot plan permitting West Bank Palestinian travelers to fly out of Ramon International Airport near Eilat in southern Israel was postponed, a day before the flights were scheduled to begin. The Israel Airports Authority announced on Sunday that the first flights to Antalya and Istanbul have been “postponed,” and that it would announce when a new date to start flying is decided. The statement did not say why the plan had been postponed.

Under the original pilot plan, passengers were to meet in one centralized location in the West Bank, such as Bethlehem or Hebron before boarding charter buses, and then would have to go through an Israeli checkpoint for a security check before the long ride to the airport, along with a security escort.

Palestinians currently travel through Queen Alia Airport in Amman, Jordan, but first, they have to travel through Israeli-run border crossings to Jordan, including Allenby Bridge, which operate under limited hours and are usually packed with travelers. The bus trip from the West Bank to Eilat to fly out of the Ramon Airport would be about three hours.

In what appears to have been a direct rejection of the Ramon Airport plan, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has demanded the opening of al-Quds Airport in Qalandia in the West Bank on the outskirts of Jerusalem, also known as the Atarot Airport, for Palestinian travelers, and the removal of all obstacles in order to allow people and goods to move freely to and from the Palestinian territories.