The mother of one student told Ynet on Monday that the mishap was a “disgrace”.
“The kids left for this trip last night at midnight and have been strewn on the floor exhausted since the morning with no idea what’s going on,” she said. “The kids waited for this trip, we paid NIS 8,000 [£1,678]… we’re very worried and anxious because they’re stuck in a country that hates Israel so much.”
The pupils were transferred by buses to a “secure and separate” terminal and did not leave the airport, according to the report.
Fortunately, Israel’s Education Minister Yoav Kisch confirmed today that a third plane had been sent and the pupils had since landed in Poland safely. He added that the Shin Bet provided security for the group during their unexpected layover.
Israel’s relations with Turkey, once a favoured tourist destination for Israelis, have in recent years deteriorated.
Indeed, on Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly prayed for the destruction of the Jewish state.
During a speech following Eid al-Fitr prayers, he said: “May Allah, for the sake of his name ‘Al-Qahhar,’ destroy and devastate Zionist Israel. And may we all, witnessing what is happening there [in the Gaza Strip], stay united, strong and resilient as brothers; may Allah keep our unity everlasting.”
Al-Qahhar is one of the names of God in Islam and is often translated from Arabic as “The Conqueror,” “The Vanquisher,” or “The Subduer”.
The remarks led to a public spat between the Turkish and Israeli foreign ministries, with Israel’s Foreign Minister Giden Sa’ar labelling Erdogan a “dictator” who had “shown his antisemitic face”.
The comments were also condemned by the UK, a Nato ally of Turkey, with a Downing Street spokesperson telling the JC: “We would never support anything like that.”
