In an unusual move, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Wednesday that no journalists will accompany Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his official aircraft, Wing of Zion, for his upcoming trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, prepare to board the PM's official aircraft Wing of Zion, ahead of a trip last year
(Photo: Itamar Eichner)
The office cited “technical arrangements related to seating and security” as the reason for reducing the passenger list, which will exclude both members of the press and part of Netanyahu’s entourage. Netanyahu is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on September 26.
Since the aircraft entered service, Israeli journalists have regularly joined the prime minister’s flights. One exception occurred after a Ynet report about alleged tampering in the spokesman’s office, when Channel 13 diplomatic correspondent Moriah Asraf was barred from boarding the plane with Netanyahu.