From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
State agency that runs Allenby crossing advances plan to keep it open 24/7
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
A US-backed plan to operate the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan 24/7 appears to be back on track after hitting a hurdle last week.
The directorate of the Israel Airports Authority, which operates the crossing, convened yesterday to discuss a pilot program that will test the ability to operate Allenby full-time, a spokeswoman for Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli tells The Times of Israel, adding that the body voted to advance the proposal.
However, the spokeswoman says that a date hasn’t been set for when the pilot will launch.
US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides hails the development, tweeting, “I am glad to see the airport authority pilot approval to open Allenby bridge 24/7. This is good for Palestinians, good for Israel, good for America.”
The initiative was first announced by US President Joe Biden when he was in the region over the summer. The White House said it would begin on September 30.
However, the Transportation Ministry later notified Washington that the airport authority did not have enough staff to launch the operation on such source notice. It instead proposed rolling out a pilot program that would begin on October 24.
Last week though, Michaeli’s office revealed that airport authority chairman Yitzhak Gershon had notified the ministry that he opposed launching the pilot program during an election season, forcing the initiative’s further delay.
Yitzhak told The Times of Israel at the time that he supported the program but insisted that it go through the directorate first.
