As Israel’s skies closed, ‘secret’ El Al flight brought 90 people to UK — report

While Israel’s skies are closed and only a handful of carefully picked and approved flights take off and arrive every day, a secret flight by national carrier El Al brought almost 100 people from Israel to London this morning, with the opaque approval process treating it as a “private flight” and without the general public having the option to apply to board it, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

The report says someone appeared to have “bought” the flight, which had officially been transporting cargo from the UK to Ben Gurion Airport and back.

Some 80-90 people boarded the plane in Israel and were taken abroad, the report says, while the normal process requires people to go through a lengthy bureaucratic process to prove that their international travel is necessary.

The broadcaster adds that it is unclear how the approval of the flight as “private” was obtained, since the Knesset only provided for the approval of very limited private flights, with severe checks on the purposes and the number of passengers, which was limited to nine people.

The report says El Al has confirmed the details, saying it received all the necessary approvals.