The surprise strike that plunged Ben Gurion Airport into chaos may have cost Israel’s economy as much as NIS 30 million in a single day, while senior airport officials are now claiming that Transportation Minister Miri Regev was originally the intended target of the labor action.
According to a report by Channel 12 News, Finance Ministry officials estimate that the disruptions caused between NIS 25 million and NIS 30 million in economic damage, including losses to airlines, airport operations and Israel’s tourism industry.
Beyond the enormous financial cost, however, senior officials at the Israel Airports Authority are alleging that the strike had initially been planned for a day earlier in an effort to disrupt Regev’s flight to Rabat, Morocco.
According to those officials, the plan changed when Regev and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at Ben Gurion Airport together.
The officials claimed that Workers’ Committee Chairman Pinchas Idan decided that interfering with the flight under those circumstances would be too extreme and could embarrass Netanyahu. The planned disruption of the flight itself was therefore reportedly called off.
However, those same officials alleged that instructions were still issued to interfere with the handling and transfer of baggage aboard Regev’s flight.
In practice, the flight to Rabat experienced only a minor delay and ultimately departed Ben Gurion Airport as scheduled.
Idan flatly denied the allegations, dismissing the claims that Regev’s flight had been deliberately targeted.
“Those senior officials would be better off dealing with the manpower shortage instead of making assumptions. It never happened,” Idan said.
The allegations have added a new political dimension to the turmoil that unfolded at Israel’s main international airport, where the sudden labor action caused widespread delays and severe disruptions for thousands of travelers.
While airport officials and the workers’ committee remain sharply divided over what triggered the action and whether Regev was deliberately targeted, the financial fallout appears to have been substantial. According to the Finance Ministry estimate, the disruption may have cost the Israeli economy as much as NIS 30 million in just one day.
{Matzav.com}
