Likud Minister May Golan flies to the US despite limited wartime travel options

Social Equality Minister May Golan has flown to the United States in the middle of the war with Iran to address an International Women’s Day event organized by the United Nations.

Haaretz journalist Uri Misgav shared an image of Golan on an El Al flight to New York this morning, noting that the minister is traveling in business class during a period when many Israelis and foreign visitors are finding it difficult to leave the country due to sharply reduced airport activity brought about by ongoing Iranian ballistic missile strikes.

The country’s airspace shut on Saturday, February 28, when Israel and the US launched a major joint military strike on Iran and the Islamic Republic responded with barrages of missile fire. In the wake of the attack, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee advised US citizens in Israel wishing to leave the country to do so via Egypt, noting the “limited options” for egress.

Several hundred passengers were able to leave Israel yesterday after Ben Gurion Airport was partially reopened for outbound flights for the first time since the beginning of the war. Despite this, air travel options remain severely limited, with only two narrow-body aircraft permitted to leave per hour, each only carrying no more than 70 to 100 passengers.

Posting on X, opposition MK Vladimir Beliak (Yesh Atid) slams Golan for flying “with her entire entourage, during wartime, to the US, to speak at the UN” while her budget is being slashed and many of those for whom her ministry is responsible “feel abandoned.”

Golan is currently under police investigation on suspicion of accepting bribes under aggravated circumstances and receiving improper benefits.