Not Iran and not Hamas: Miri Regev and Ben Gurion Airport workers broke the Israeli spirit

The shutdown of Ben Gurion Airport on the busiest day of the year, while Transportation Minister Miri Regev is in Morocco, according to the author, exposes the ongoing chaos at the airport. The article describes poor working conditions, heavy congestion, and a sense of national escape, and asserts that it is the infringement on the freedom to fly that broke the Israelis' spirit, more than security threats.

The author argues that the shutdown of Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday, August 20, 2026, the busiest day of the year, is the straw that broke the camel's back for Israelis. While Transportation Minister Miri Regev is in Morocco with her staff, stranded passengers are reportedly treated to 'clown shows.' The article describes Ben Gurion Airport as a 'third-world country' with poor conditions for workers, salaries of 10,000 shekels gross for porters, and political connections required for tenure. The author notes that the desire to escape the country overrides logic, and that Israelis are willing to sit in bomb shelters and get vaccinated, but cannot tolerate harm to their ability to fly on vacation. He defines Ben Gurion Airport as the true national unifier, where all sectors meet, and asserts that it is a mediocre operator like workers' committee chairman Pinchas Idan who exhausted Israelis' patience, more than threats from Iran or Hamas.