From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Regev: Only 20 US refueling tankers to be allowed at Ben Gurion, rest will land at Air Force bases
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel
Transportation Minister Miri Regev cautions that Israel will not allow more than 20 US refueling tankers to be parked at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.
“Hundreds of thousands of plane tickets were bought by Israelis to fly and enjoy their summer vacation,” says Regev. “We promised that we will enable commercial flights and we will not cancel a single ticket because of American refueling planes.”
“Therefore I have given instructions that we will not allow any US refueling tankers to land at Ben Gurion Airport beyond the agreed number of 20 planes and the remaining planes will land at Air Force bases,” Regev adds.
The directive comes after the Israel Airports Authority warned that unless more US aircraft are removed from the country’s main international air gateway, as many as 50,000 flight tickets could be at risk of cancellation in the coming weeks.
The monthslong presence of US military aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport amid the Iran war has been preventing a full return to normal commercial flight operations, while also driving up operational costs for local airlines.
The Times of Israel Community.