BARRY CHAMISH TEL AVIV
A row has erupted after three Israeli commercial aircraft - two charter jets en route to Kenya and an El Al flight to Bangkok, were refused entry into Egyptian air space in late August. Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Akiva Tor has reacted angrily and says that Israel will take the matter seriously.
Egyptian air traffic controllers turned back the El Al flight after Israel's foreign minister met Egyptian Ambassador Mohamed Bassiony to discuss the previous two incidents.
The Sharm El-Sheikh peace conference, barely a week later, in which Israel made far-reaching concessions to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, "is not likely to be a coincidence", says political analyst Yoel Binyamin.
The Egyptians insist the incidents were not part of any political scheme. Bassiony calls them "part of a misunderstanding of operation procedures", while Egyptian civil aviation head General Abdel-Fattah Kato says: "Israel had ignored the statute in our aviation agreement which calls for having a permit in advance of their flights."
But Akiva Tor denies this, saying that, in retaliation for Israel's muted public protests, the Egyptian authorities demanded that El Al submit all flight plans for the next two months.
Source: Airline Business
