This story originally appeared in the JC Israel Briefing. You can sign up to receive the briefing daily here.
An Israir flight had to be rerouted to Croatia after being refused entry to Slovenia on Wednesday.
Reports in the Israeli media suggested that the flight from Tel Aviv was turned away from the capital, Ljubljana, as an act of protest against the Israeli government.
The plane is said to have spent some time circling in the region before eventually landing in neighbouring Croatia.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 13, Israir director Uri Sirkis described the move by air traffic controllers as “a blatant violation of the European Union’s aviation agreements”.
A spokesperson from the Foreign Ministry said: “Israel has made it clear to the Slovenian authorities that this is a completely unacceptable step.”
The central European country is known to be critical of Israel, but a new incoming government is expected to take a different position, according to the spokesperson.
“A new government is expected to be formed in Slovenia soon to replace the outgoing hostile government, and Israel expects a significant improvement in relations between the countries,” they said.
The move was also condemned by Miri Regev, Israel’s transportation minister, who called it “an invalid political decision that directly impacts Israeli citizens”.
"Anyone who tries to boycott us via aviation needs to understand that there will be consequences,” she said, adding that Israel would use “all tools available to it” to resolve the dispute.
This story originally appeared in the JC Israel Briefing. You can sign up to receive the briefing daily here.
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