Published on 5/19/2026
Israeli Channel 12 said that Washington informed the Israeli side that dozens of refueling planes stationed at Ben Gurion Airport are expected to remain in Israel at least until the end of this year.
Last week, the head of the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority, Shmuel Zakai, warned that Ben Gurion International Airport had effectively turned into an “American military base,” which had caused widespread disruptions in the civil aviation sector and the work of airline companies.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Zakai sent a letter to Transport Minister Miri Regev and the Ministry’s Director General, Moshe Ben Zaken, in which he explained that the American military presence inside the main airport hinders the movement of civilian flights and delays the return of foreign companies to work, which led to a jump in ticket prices ahead of the summer tourism season.
In recent weeks, Israeli media have circulated pictures documenting the presence of dozens of American warplanes – including refueling planes – inside the airport.
Difficult summer
It is expected that the evacuation of aircraft and military forces will directly affect the return of Ben Gurion Airport to normal, and flight prices.
According to Israeli media, if the planes are not evacuated in the near future, it is expected that the Israeli aviation sector will face a difficult summer, as this may prevent foreign airlines from increasing the number of their flights to Israel, and the number of airlines that fly them to it.
This crisis comes in the context of ongoing regional tension since the outbreak of war on Iran on February 28, as Israeli airlines were forced to transfer many of their planes abroad.
It also comes at a time when Tel Aviv is raising its state of alert for the possibility of resuming the military confrontation with Iran if the ongoing negotiations between Tehran and Washington fail, after the temporary truce announced on April 8 with Pakistani mediation.
