US airlines refusal to fly to Israel has sent airfares skyrocketing: Playing into Irans game

The refusal by the top three US’ airlines to fly to Israel since the Oct.7 terrorist attack has sent fares soaring for flights to Tel Aviv — and has essentially led to an economic boycott that benefits its sworn enemy Iran, critics charged.

Delta, United and American have upheld a nearly yearlong suspension of direct flights to Israel in the wake of the Hamas massacre, leaving national carrier El Al as the only airline offering non-stop service.Prices, however, have increased nearly threefold.“The American carriers are playing into Iran’s game,” Eyal Hulata, who served as national security adviser to two Israeli prime ministers, told Bari Weiss’ online media outlet The Free Press.Several European, African and Middle Eastern carriers have resumed service to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport despite ongoing Hamas rocket fire from the Gaza Strip as well as the specter of all-out war with Iran and Hezbollah.The only way for US travelers to fly direct to Israel is to book an El Al flight, which costs around $2,500 for a round-trip ticket from New York to Tel Aviv.Before Oct.

7, a flight aboard El Al cost around $900.Despite the ongoing war with Hamas, the airlines that fly regularly into and out of Israel are the three carries from the United Arab Emirates — Etihad Airways, FlyDubai and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi.The UAE had been technically at war with Israel until 2020, when it established diplomatic relations with Jerusalem as part of the Abraham Accords — the agreements that were brokered by the Trump administration.“They should fly to Israel exactly like the Gulf countries and others do,” Hulata, currently a senior fellow at the pro-Israel think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told The Free Press in reference to the three American carriers.“And if they don’t do this because they are scared of rockets, then there’s something fundamentally wrong in their decision making.”He added: “There hasn’t been a rocket anywh...