The FAA made the right decision in lifting its ban of commercial flights into Israel, according to Isaac Yeffet, former director of security for El Al Airlines and former deputy director of security for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
"One hundred percent yes. From the beginning, I said that it was a mistake to make a decision not to allow American airlines to fly to Israel. The results of this were that European airlines immediately decided to stop,'' Yeffet said Thursday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
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"For two weeks, there was a war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization and every day they were shooting between 100-150 rockets toward Israel.
"What happened? Nothing. Hundreds of thousands of passengers were flying during these two weeks, landing in Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, taking off. No one was hurt.''
The FAA banned American flights to Israel after a Hamas-fired rocket landed within one mile of Ben Gurion International Airport.
But Yeffet believes Israel has taken extraordinary precautions to ensure the safety of passengers.
"The sky in Israel was from day one … safe and secure. Suddenly, because of one rocket a mile from the airport, [comes] this decision. Is it logical?'' he said.
"Don't you know that rockets cannot hit aircrafts? Don't you know that Israel will not commit suicide…. The sky is secure, safe.''
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