JTA — Israeli passengers on a flight from Athens to Tel Aviv demanded the crew remove two Arab-Israelis from the plane before allowing it to take off.
The incident, in which the Jewish travelers stopped an Aegean Airlines plane from taking off by standing in the aisles while the plane was on the tarmac, took place Monday night, Haaretz reported, citing an Israel Radio report.
The Arab passengers eventually agreed to leave the plane in return for a hotel room and financial compensation.
It wasn’t clear why the Jewish passengers found the Arab travelers suspicious, but the incident occurred days after an Arab-Israeli killed two people in a Tel Aviv shooting attack. The alleged gunman remains at large.
The airline said “an initially small group” of passengers “very vocally and persistently” demanded the two Arab travelers be “checked for security issues.” Airport police reviewed the “documents and identities” of the Arab passengers but found nothing suspicious, the airline said.
Nonetheless, even with “assurances given by the crew,” the number of Jewish passengers expressing alarm grew, delaying the flight by more than 90 minutes.
“But by that stage, the two men were in a poor state and wanted to leave themselves,” the airline spokesperson added.
Aegean said it had offered the two men overnight stay and transport on Tuesday.
They were compensated for the incident and flew to Israel on an El Al flight on Monday.
“We thank again the two Arab – Israeli passengers who agreed to disembark for their understanding and collaboration and we apologize for the whole episode which was indeed extremely unfortunate” Aegean said.
Arab Israelis are those who remained in the Jewish state after its 1948 creation, as well as their descendants. They account for more than 17 percent of the country’s population and have full rights under law.
After the Arab passengers left the plane, Jewish passengers asked the flight crew to conduct more security checks, but backed off after the captain threatened to force them off the aircraft without compensation.
Michal Rozin, a Knesset member from the left-wing Meretz party, blamed the incident on Israeli government leaders who “sow fear and hate through slander and incitement,” according to Haaretz.
