Netanyahu greets Bloomberg at airport, calls him ‘man of principle’

PM meets former New York mayor who flew on El Al flight to Ben-Gurion to demonstrate his belief that it's still safe to travel to Israel.

By HERB KEINON
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu greets former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg at Ben-Gurion Airport, July 23, 2014. (photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu greets former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg at Ben-Gurion Airport, July 23, 2014.
(photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu greeted former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg at Ben-Gurion Airport Wednesday, thanking him for coming to Israel and calling him a friend and “man of principle and truth.”
The simple truth, Netanyahu said, is that there is no danger flying to and from Israel.
“We are protecting the airport very well, and everyone can come and go, just as Michael Bloomberg did,” he said. “I think that the decision of the FAA is mistaken. It give a free prize to Hamas terror.”
Netanyahu called on the FAA to rescind the decision, saying that Israeli skies were safe.
Bloomberg said that in his eyes Ben-Gurion Airport was the safest in the world. He added that Israel has been under threat since 1948, and that the Israelis know well how to provide security.