Our Surreal Wednesday-Thursday Journey Back to Israel

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21 Iyar 5780

15 May 2020

Quote of the Day:

“The Right Block enabled Netanyahu to achieve his goal. Now he feels free to dump us.”

Yamina leader Ayelet Shaked, speaking last night.

Shaked is justifiably incensed over Netanyahu throwing those who were his closest allies under the bus. Time after time, Netanyahu demanded members of the block to swear loyalty to him–even to the point of signing pledges. However, once the prospect of an agreement with Benny Gantz became a possibility, Yamina was no longer necessary.

Shaked went on to say that, amazingly, there is no mention of Judea and Samaria at all in the final agreement paper between Netanyahu and Gantz and that what Netanyahu will be heading is nothing less than a left wing government.

If you don’t believe Shaked, take a look at the list of ministers (published by Benny Gantz yesterday) from the Kahol Lavan, Labor, and Derech Israel parties that will run the new government. 

Benny Gantz: Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister
Gabi Ashkenazi: Foreign Minister
Amir Peretz: Minister of Economy and Industry
Pnina Tamano Shetah: Minister of Immigration and Immigration
Miki Haimovitz: Chairman of the Interior and Environmental Committee
Avi Nissenkorn: Minister of Justice
Itzik Shmuli: Minister of Labor and Social Services
Meirav Cohen: Minister of Social Equality and Retirees
Orit Farkash: Minister of Strategic Affairs
Yoaz Handel: Minister of Communications
Asaf Zamir: Minister of Tourism
Hilik Tropper: Minister of Culture and Sport
Michael Biton: Minister of Defense responsible for Civil Issues
Eitan Ginsburg: Chairman of the Knesset Committee in the Knesset 
Omar Hankalbitz: also on the Knesset Committee
Izhar Shay: Science Minister
Zvi Hauser: Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee
Alon Schuster: Minister of Agriculture

Every single one of the Gantz’s minions has received a plum post. As of this morning, some members of Likud led by Avi Dichter are staging a mini-rebellion because of the lack of posts offered to Likud members; as a result, the swearing in of the new government has been delayed until Sunday.

Obviously, as we have previously written, Benjamin Netanyahu has turned over the keys to the country to the “left.” And for what? 

The News on the Israeli Street

Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .

*A Palestinian terrorist perpetrated a horrific ramming attack yesterday between Mara’a and Negohot near Hevron. IDF Sgt. Shadi Ibrahim of the Druze town of Sajur, was crushed with severe “multi-system” wounds. This morning, doctors were forced to amputate one of his legs. He needs your prayers.

Fortunately, the terrorist was shot and killed by other soldiers at the scene. He had a note in his car that ludicrously said that the attack was “in defense of the Al-Aksa Mosque” and that he was looking forward to going to “Paradise.”

Sgt. Ibrahim’s uncle made this statement late yesterday: “He comes from a family of warriors. It’s a very difficult event for anyone looking for peace. I wish all the parents will have their sons return home healthy.”

*The IDF thwarted another terror attack when they arrested three heavily armed terrorists near the Hizma Crossing.

*There were numerous “rock” and Molotov attacks yesterday carried out by Palestinian terrorists at such places as Khawra, the Tunnel Road in south Jerusalem, Abud on Road 465, Mt. Hevron,  Ya’abed, and Tekoa.

The daily Corona update . . .

*As of 10:00 am Friday, there are 16,579 confirmed cases of Corona in Israel of whom 12,521 have recovered. 50 Israelis remain on ventilators, and 265 have died.

*The government has decided to reopen all beaches in the country as of next Wednesday, May 20.

*Lufthansa has announced that it will resume 6 weekly flights from Frankfurt and Munich to Israel beginning in June.

TODAY’S BLOG:

Our Surreal Wednesday-Thursday Journey Back  to Israel 

After numerous attempts to return to Israel over the last month (buying tickets only to have them canceled), your humble servant and his wife finally decided to bite the bullet a few weeks ago and travel through “Coronia” (aka Newark/New York) back to the land of milk and honey.

Our journey began on Wednesday at 4:45 am with a shuttle pickup from our other home in northern California. Of course, we were fully masked and gloved.

The similarly masked and gloved driver was prompt, courteous, and told us that we were the only people he had taken to the San Francisco Airport (SFO) in months who were flying to an international destination.

That last piece of information made us even more uneasy than we already were.

We arrived at the SFO airport at 6 am, exited the shuttle, and put on another plastic mask over the mask that we already had on (see photo below):

This is how we traveled. Note my wide-eyed wife clowning a bit for the selfie.

We took our four large suitcases and 4 carry-ons straight into the airport.

Where there were two people working the United counter, and no passengers to be seen anywhere. 

None. Zero. Zilch.
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The counter person checked us in for our two flights: SFO-Newark departing at 8:40 am, followed by Newark-TLV at 8:00 pm.

From there, we proceeded to security where there was absolutely no one. Not one single other person except for us. Obviously, there was no need for the TSA-precheck line since there was no line at all.

We had anticipated that we might receive a Corona temperature check, but there was none. 

Through security in about 1 minute, we went toward our gate with the idea that we would stop at the United Club lounge for a couple of hours prior to take off. But alas, the lounge was closed until 7:30 am. So we sat down at a table in front of the Green Beans Coffee Cafe and ordered a couple of coffees.

We stayed there for those two hours, watching occasional people filter in. Most were wearing masks but many were not. Always alert for people coughing and sneezing, we detected a number of people who really seemed like they should not be flying.

Finally, boarding began for our flight.

Once again we anticipated that some rudimentary check of our temperature would occur, but once again, there was none. The only admonition was that everyone on board had to have a mask on all the time.

Prior to boarding, I had received numerous messages from United that extraordinary measures were being taken to ensure our safety including disinfecting the plane continuously and practicing social distancing by virtue of no one sitting beside anyone else (all middle seats empty).

This turned out to be partially true. My wife and I were seated in business (she on a 1-seat window row, me on in a a 2-seat middle row) where there was one person sitting in the seat about six inches from my head. We were divided by a partition, but that didn’t make me feel much better. Nor did the fact that there was another person sitting directly behind me.  

We pulled out our chlorinated wipes and wiped down every inch of our “cubicles” before sitting down (a process we repeated several times during each flight).  During both flights, we each went through about 10 pairs of gloves.

The plane, which was at least 90% empty, took off on time. The flight had little of the normal amenities, and the flight attendants seemed understandably more concerned about their personal health than our comfort.

4.5 hours later we arrived in Newark–a stop we had tried to avoid (when we first bought our tickets, United had told us it was a nonstop from SFO-TLV; however, a few weeks later I discovered on my own that there was no nonstop flight, and we were going through Newark to connect to UA infamous flight 90 which had taken so many people with Corona to Israel.

Once at Newark, the scene was much the same as in SFO: few people, stores shuttered (only 1 place on the concourse to buy water), and most people masked. Again, the United Club and Polaris Club were closed.

All in all, it was a surreal scene. As we waited 3 hours for our next flight, a number of Jewish families, most garbed like Chabadniks with lots of small children in tow, arrived at the gate.

About an hour before boarding, we entered the “security zone” where all passengers were checked. By checked, I refer to the usual check done on all flights to Israel of suitcases and personal items. We were wanded to make sure that we carried no dangerous items.

We expected once again to have a temperature check for Corona, but once again, there was no health check of any type whatsoever.

At 7:30 we boarded the Dreamliner and settled in after again wiping down the entertainment screen, food tray, arm rests, and everything else. Again, there were few people on the plane–and this time, I sat behind my wife on the window row. Unfortunately, just before takeoff, a sneezing and coughing Chabadnik family boarded and sat down behind me and in the middle section across the aisle. I pulled my mask down even tighter to cover as much as I could.

The flight was around 9 hours long, and the service on board was spectacular. The steward serving our area was wonderfully attentive and friendly, going out of his way to look after us. The coughing and sneezing ceased, and we slept most of the way.

At 1:20 pm yesterday (Thursday), precisely on schedule, we touched down at Ben Gurion Airport and pulled up to the gate. As we exited the plane, we immediately sensed that restrictions were much tighter here than in New Jersey or California.

After scanning in our biometric Israeli passports upstairs, we proceeded down the hallway from which we could see the airport lobby on the floor below:

The lobby for departing flights–a photo I took at 1:45 pm yesterday afternoon. Do you notice anything missing? Not one person is in the room which is normally packed to the gills.

Then it was on to a gauntlet of IDF and MADA health personnel.

First up was an IDF medic who checked our temperature and asked a number of health-related questions. People with a temperature were then directed toward another health station for further checks; the others such as us went to another station for other non-health questions.

One of the IDF personnel in the “gauntlet”. He wasn’t very happy about having his photo taken.

After this series, we then came to the station which determined where we were going–either home or to a Corona hotel. Fortunately, my wife had filled out forms with the Health Ministry prior to our leaving, and as I had previously blogged, the government had decided two days before our takeoff that all incoming Israeli citizens could self-quarantine for 14 days at home.

Self-quarantine in Israel literally means that you cannot leave your residence for any reason short of a life and death situation (our neighbors and friends went shopping for us and left food outside our gate last night and this morning).

So, after signing a document that said that we promised (on pain of a 5,000 shekel fine) to do just that, and describing in detail our home in Ashdod (empty with no one having lived there since December), we were allowed to go on our way.

Upon retrieving our luggage, we went to the taxi stand and got a van to take us home. Our usual taxi driver was prohibited from coming to the airport because he would have had to drive from Ashdod.

And thus ended our “adventure”.

Some final recommendations if you are planning on flying anytime soon:

1. Wear multiple masks and carry plenty of gloves.

2. Carry plenty of hand sanitizer and chlorinated wipes.

3. Check carefully where you are seating.

4. Buy water wherever you can.

5. Keep a smile on your face!

A photo of yours truly on the SFO-Newark flight. Note the top of the head of the woman on the other side of the partition. Also note the two masks I have on, the plastic one on which you see the reflection, and the N95 around my neck.