ISRAEL YESTERDAY issued a flight-ban threat to Cyprus, which was later withdrawn after the two countries agreed to negotiate on Israel’s concerns over security at Larnaca Airport.
Israel’s Transport Ministry said early yesterday it was banning flights two and from Cyprus as of Sunday because of restrictions Cyprus was imposing on its security measures at the island’s airports.
Three Israeli airlines, national carrier El Al, Arkia Israel Airlines and Isair would have been affected, as would Cypriot carrier Cyprus Airways.
The Israeli Ministry said the Cypriot move to restrict Israeli security at Larnaca and Paphos airports was unacceptable given warnings and threats to Israeli targets throughout the world. The proposed ban was later withdrawn after talks between the two sides pending further discussion.
“We have withdrawn the ban after Cyprus backed down over the restrictions,” Transport Ministry spokesman Avner Ovadiah told Reuters, without elaborating. “The sides will be holding talks over the next two weeks to reach a permanent resolution of the problem,” he said.
Justice Minister Alecos Shambos told the Cyprus Mail that Israel had “certain concerns and reservations covering certain security needs they had” after what happened in Kenya last month when two missiles were fired at an Israeli passenger plane taking off from Mombasa.
“They decided it was dangerous to fly here and cancelled flights but later on in the course of consultations we reached an understanding,” he said adding that a delegation from Israel would be flying in to see if the matter could be resolved. Shambos said it was not a question that security was not good enough but declined to go into details. “They just had reservations,” he said. “They thought we were restricting their movements at airports and this caused them some concern but it is over now.”
Later, Shambos insisted: “it is up to the Republic to exercise control, we are a sovereign state and there is no issue of granting any control or surveillance competency to any foreigner.”
“The control will continue to be exercised as it has been exercised so far and we assured them (the Israelis) that there is no reason for worrying,” the Minister added.
However, sources told the Cyprus Mail that Israel had wanted to arm its security men, who already carry out checks at the airport. Another source said they wanted uniformed soldiers patrolling the airport when Israeli planes were expected. Both options would be unacceptable to Cyprus, they said.
“They are now trying to blackmail Cyprus by stopping flights,” the first source said. “Every time an Israeli plane lands or leaves from Cyprus, police have to take out their patrol boats to monitor the sea and mount additional patrols to monitor the area in and around the airport.”
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
