Israel closes Ben Gurion Airport, halts all passenger flights

Israeli government officials announced that Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport will be closed for passenger flights and private jets from January 26 to 31.

This is another measure taken by the authorities of the Jewish state to combat the spread of coronavirus infection and “prevent the importation of new mutations of the coronavirus and the spread of a potential Israeli strain that is immune to existing vaccines”.

“The government has approved the proposal of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health and the Minister of Transport to stop flights to and from Israel. The decision will take effect at midnight from Monday to Tuesday and will be valid until January 31, 2021,” the Prime Minister’s Office said press service of the Israeli Ministry of Health.

The third total lockdown in Israel, introduced on January 8 for two weeks, has been extended until January 31. Citizens are forbidden to move more than a kilometer from their homes and gather in groups of more than five people in rooms and more than ten people in the streets. All entertainment venues are closed, cafes and restaurants work only with home delivery.

“We are closing the country hermetically. Just this week of the closing of the sky, we will inoculate another million Israelis,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a government meeting.