As Gaza fighting ends, IDF reminds public of planned flyby practice

In apparent bid to prevent panic, military says Israelis can expect to see fighter jets and other aircraft overhead

The Israeli military issued a reminder that there would be fighter jets and other aircraft zooming overhead on Monday and Tuesday as part of practice for this week’s annual Independence Day flyover.

Monday’s reminder was an apparent bid to prevent a panic following two days of intense fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Residents of the cities of Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as well as the communities of Kibbutz Gal’ed and Ramat David, were told to expect to see the training flights from approximately 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday.

The practice flights had originally been scheduled for Sunday, but were postponed due to the fighting in Gaza.

Additional flyby practice flights were scheduled for Tuesday over Tel Aviv and the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, the army said.

Independence Day this year begins the night of May 8, after the country ends its Memorial Day commemorations, and the festivities — including the annual flyby — continue into the next day.

The aerial demonstration, known in Hebrew as the matas, features fighter jets, transport planes, acrobatic aircraft, and helicopters flying past major Israeli cities and towns to delight residents with a show of military power.

Two C-130J transport planes fly past a Sa’ar 5-class corvette off the Tel Aviv coast for Israel’s 70th Independence Day on April 19, 2018. (Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)

Last year’s preparations sparked a scare in central Israel as residents saw and heard multiple fighter jets flying overhead with no warning, amid a period of heightened security tensions, prompting a flood of phone calls to the Tel Aviv police hotline from concerned residents.

Residents appeared to be more anxious in 2018 than in previous years, likely owing to tensions with Syria, as days before, Israel had allegedly conducted an airstrike on an Iran-controlled airbase in Syria, prompting threats of retaliation from both Damascus and Tehran.

Following the minor panic, the military released an official apology and announced its plans for future practice flights.

“The army is sorry for the panic that was caused,” the IDF said in a statement at the time. “These dry runs take place as part of the [air] force’s desire to ensure a safe, high quality, and respectful flyover for the 70th Independence Day.”