After a daunting but failed weekend missile attack by Iran on Israel, a Boeing 787 operated by El Al Airlines arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Monday, inaugurating long-promised regularly scheduled air service between Broward County and the beleaguered Jewish state.
During a ceremony, complete with a fire rescue salute of the inbound plane named after the northern district city of Nof Hagalil, Israel’s consul general from Miami, airline executives and county officials gathered to mark the moment. A full flight of an estimated 240 passengers were aboard the wide-bodied jetliner, which docked at 4:29 p.m. at the airport’s Terminal 4, a conduit for most international flights which El Al has been using since last fall to operate seasonal trips to Tel Aviv pegged to the high Jewish holidays.
The plane was scheduled to make its eastbound run back to Israel a short time later at 6:30 p.m.
Late last week, El Al’s launch of regular twice-a week service appeared in doubt as Iran’s government engaged in sabre rattling about retaliating against Israel for its missile strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria that killed three high-ranking Iranian military officials. The threats became a reality on Saturday as more than 300 missiles and drones from Iran roared toward Israel, though most of them were intercepted by air defenses.
By early Sunday, Israel had reopened its airspace and the national airport authority resumed operations at Ben Gurion International Airport, the end point for most flights arriving from overseas.
Israel-bound travelers have been long aware that their destination is at the center of a geo-political hot zone made dangerous by military operations, terrorism and civil unrest, according to American diplomatic authorities.
Last week, the U.S. State Department updated its travel advisories for the region, urging people to “Reconsider Travel” to Israel and to the West Bank due to “terrorism and civil unrest.” The department also maintained its “Do Not Travel” advisory for Gaza, citing “terrorism and armed conflict.”
Unity, determination amid somber feelings
But at the ceremony, the officials and Jewish religious leaders collectively hailed the airline as a unifying factor for a country and people in need. Top El Al officials said the new Fort Lauderdale service was never in doubt.
Simon Newton-Smith, senior vice president-The Americas, told reporters that both the Fort Lauderdale flight and all other outbound El Al flights made it out of Israel over the weekend as planned despite the aerial attacks.
“This as on track even as late as this weekend,” Newton-Smith told reporters. “We had people say, ‘Is this really going to happen because of what happened in Israel on Saturday evening?’ This is a reflection of the Israeli determination. This was the plan, this was the date that was set, and the team was committed to delivering the flight on the 15th of April.”
“Effectively, El Al has become a lifeline, not just (an) airline,” he said. “It’s huge. The Jewish community in South Florida is 230,000 strong. It’s the fourth largest Jewish community outside Israel. The simple fact is that you know anything happening in Israel is impacting a huge portion of the community here in South Florida and vice versa. An airline is about connecting people.”
Newton-Smith acknowledged that the mood among those traveling to and from Israel, as well as among those in the travel community, is “somber.”
“I think the mood is driven by that connection between the communities here,” he said. “Obviously there is a lot of concern. The community based here has got family and friends in Israel everybody is concerned about and vice versa.”
“It’s clearly a difficult time for everybody,” Newton-Smith added. “There is nobody that is not impacted by this in some shape or form. But again, in terms of air service, sometimes during this uncertainty it is important to have people and families connect. That’s why we do what we do.”
At the same time, Maor Elbaz-Starinski, the consul general of Israel based in Miami, warned of difficult times ahead with Iran.
“Somebody asked me if they were just trying to save face,” he told reporters. “Don’t be fooled. We know the nature of the Iranian regime. What happened is what we have warned for decades. Iranians are developing ballistic missiles. Iranians are exporting terrorism. And Iranians are developing nuclear weapons.”
All will someday be used against Israel and nations elsewhere, he warned.
Whatever lies ahead, Broward officials —vranging from Mark Gale, the airport president and CEO, County Administrator Monica Cepero, to Commissioner Mark Bogen, who said he has been an El Al customer since 2019, to Stacy Ritter, president and CEO of Visit Lauderdale — all vowed to support the airline and its newly inaugurated service.
Tel Aviv Pride, a weeklong series of events which occurs in early June as part of the international observance of Gay Pride Month, will be receiving support from Visit Lauderdale, which is sponsoring the event, the first time her tourism promotion agency is going to Israel “to sponsor any event at all,” Ritter said.
“We are doing it because of your flight,” she said. “We recognize that with nonstop service to Tel Aviv from FLL, we have an entire new region that opens up to us with tourism and we cannot wait — we cannot wait to welcome the people from Israel to our destination.”
