Israel was at war. Her airspace was closed. It was early December, 2023.
El Al, the flag carrier since 1948, flew alone inside the nation’s airways. They were the sole ones landing and taking off into TLV. October 7th had changed everything.
Since this morning, the State of Israel has been at war. Our first objective is to clear out the hostile forces that infiltrated our territory and restore the security and quiet to the communities that have been attacked. The second objective, at the same time, is to exact an immense price from the enemy, within the Gaza Strip as well. The third objective is to reinforce other fronts so that nobody should mistakenly join this war. We are at war. In war, one needs to be level-headed. I call on all citizens of Israel to unite in order to achieve our highest goal – victory in the war.
October 7th, 2023 - Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel
The corridor was heavily guarded and controlled and had been that way since the atrocities visited upon the people of The Land. Famous for their global guarantee of safety for Israeli flyers, I was relieved to be onboard. Sitting secure on Terminal 4’s designated parking space, Mark and Laurie (our friend and Israel mission team member) were relaxed. Everyone onboard was relaxing too. There was a communal sigh of relief to have made it through the security gauntlet and into the comfortable cabin.
(continued soon)