From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
With flights scarce, UTJ lawmaker flies to UK amid war to attend grandchild’s wedding
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush flew to England to attend the wedding of a grandchild, i24 News reports, sharing a picture of the ultra-Orthodox MK that was originally posted by the Haredi WhatsApp group HaPargod.
The previous day, Social Equality Minister May Golan flew to the United States to address an International Women’s Day event organized by the United Nations.
Both are traveling in the middle of the war with Iran, 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 initially shut on 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 this week as Ben Gurion Airport was partially reopened Sunday 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.
On Monday, HaPargod shared video of the head of the ultra-Orthodox Oratta Yeshiva at Ben Gurion Airport toasting his success in arranging travel for 90 students who were flying on a pilgrimage to the Polish town of Leżajsk, prompting resentment among non-Haredi Israelis.
“There are 2 states here: One state that works and serves [in the army]… and is about to collapse [under the strain] and another state” in which the Haredim “have become AAA-class citizens,” complained The Democrats party director-general Omer Granot-Lubaton in a post on X about the yeshiva students on Monday.
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