21 flights, thousands of passengers a day: Despite a torch warning - Israelis fly to Turkey en masse

After the Foreign Minister called on Israelis not to fly to the country, and to those who are already staying there to return to Israel, many travelers will make their way to Turkey and do not intend to cancel their flight.

"No need to be afraid, we've already closed."

Even those who are already on vacation do not intend to shorten it: "There is no feeling of fear, keep a low profile and that's it"

Uri Sela

13/06/2022

Monday, 13 June 2022, 16:10 Updated: 19:00

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In the video: The travel warning to Istanbul to the highest level has been tightened (Photo: Uri Sela)

21 flights with about 3,750 Israelis will depart from Ben Gurion Airport to Turkey during the day (Monday).

This is despite Foreign Minister Yair Lapid's call not to fly to the country following reports of thwarting the abduction of Israelis in Istanbul by agents related to Iran.

A similar number of passengers will do the opposite and land in Israel.

Two companies, residents of Beit Shemesh and Ashkelon, scheduled a flight together to Istanbul, before the warnings.

One of them said that she "died of fear", but her friend sounded much calmer: "Yesterday we talked about it. We realized that it is impossible to cancel. There is no need to be afraid, we have already closed and all the people of Israel are there."

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"We did not think for a moment to cancel, there is no fear."

Passengers at Ben Gurion Airport, today (Photo: Official website, Uri Sela)

Yazid, a Hurfish resident who flew with his family to Istanbul, was also unmoved by the warnings.

"We did not think for a moment to cancel, there is no fear. At most we will speak Arabic," he joked.

In contrast, she and Evade, a husband and wife living in Jerusalem, did not know at all about the developments regarding Turkey.

"We have not heard the warnings. Why not say here in the announcement, that they will tell us not to fly, that they will return the money to us. Very annoying. Now we are already here and there is nothing to do."

Susie, her husband and their three children, residents of Ramla, are also flying to Turkey.

"We closed the flight before all the warnings," Susie said.

"Obviously it made us rethink it, but it can not be undone. There is always this fear abroad.

I do not know what is behind the decision, but if they have decided, there are probably things happening there. "

"We did not experience fear, the Turks are hospitable."

Ortal and Eli Sidon on vacation in Istanbul (Photo: courtesy of the photographers)

In his remarks today, the Foreign Minister emphasized that Israelis currently living in Turkey must return to Israel immediately.

Sapir Bar, a resident of Harish, is with her partner on a trip to Turkey.

"I do not intend to return," she said.

"There are a lot of Turks here who love Israelis and hate Iran. It does not go around where it is not worthwhile and there are a lot of Israelis here. There is no feeling of fear, they keep a low profile and that's it."

"We do not intend to return."

Sapir Bar, Ron Chen and a local driver on vacation in Istanbul (Photo: courtesy of the photographers)

Ortal and Eli Sidon also went on holiday to Istanbul.

Today they are flying back to Israel, but they say they would not have shortened the trip if the flight was on another day.

"I can say that I have not experienced any feeling of fear or insecurity in speaking Hebrew and saying that I am Israeli, the Turks are hospitable," Ortal said.

"As for the Iranians, I have no way of knowing who is Iranian and who is not. We conducted ourselves as usual. We are returning only because it is time."

Another tourist in Turkey said after the Foreign Ministry's call to return to Israel: "I heard, these warnings exist from the day after we landed here. And in general we are still alive and all is well, they are very nice here. We try not to say we are from Israel and say we are from Malta. .

"We Israelis, love to be afraid, that's part of our essence."

Dudi Tal (Photo: courtesy of those photographed)

Dudi Tal, who is in his fifth year in Istanbul since the beginning of the year, is due to return to Israel tomorrow, and he does not sound particularly worried either.

"I arrived here last Wednesday despite the warnings and despite the press releases. I still think there is no real cause for concern, we did not encounter any manifestations of racism or fear. Walking around the street, speaking Hebrew, I never hid my Israeli identity, where I am asked I immediately say I am not Israeli "I am ashamed of it, but quite the opposite, we do not encounter any problem, neither from the Turks who are happy about the tourism that comes in here, nor from the Iranians we met at the hotel."

My uncle describes the gap between the warnings of politicians and the media to what is happening on the street.

"On the street when you meet Iranians or Syrians or Lebanese, you do not encounter hate speech, but quite the opposite, they are very, very happy to see the other side they know less as we know less and many times a fluid and even interesting conversation ensues. One time I met an Iranian girl here "An 18-year-old who was with her grandparents and we became friends on Instagram, even she did not understand what the fuss was about and what the burning hatred was, it does not exist here on the street."

"I read what Yair Lapid said, in the end everyone is responsible for their own lives, this hysteria they are trying to convey is not really reflected in the reality here on the street, in malls, in markets, anywhere," he added.

"We walked around a crowded mall today, we did not encounter any manifestation of fear, even strange looks, do not know where they bring it from. On the other hand we are Israelis, we love to be afraid, it is part of our essence as a people, to be afraid all the time."

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