Ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trip to the United States, a document was distributed to the political reporters who are expected to join the expedition, in which it is made clear to them that due to the proximity to Yom Kippur and the complex logistical arrangements, they will not be allowed to return to Israel on the Prime Minister's plane, which raises the concern that they will be forced to spend Yom Kippur in the USA.
In a letter sent to Netanyahu's office, the reporters make it clear that if their return on the Prime Minister's plane is not possible, they will be forced to miss the flight.
In the letter, which was sent to the Prime Minister's spokesman, Topaz Luk, on behalf of all the political reporters, it is written: "According to the information sheet that was distributed to the systems last night, it was written in an unusual and unprecedented manner that the reporters accompanying the Prime Minister's trip will not be allowed to return to Israel on the Prime Minister's plane, this is due to the proximity of Shabbat and the urgency to arrive in Israel before the arrival of Yom Kippur."
"On behalf of all the reporters who are supposed to fly with the Prime Minister, I am informing you that as long as we cannot return with you on the Prime Minister's plane, we will not be able to register for the flight and will be absent from it. It is unreasonable to expect us, the journalists accompanying the trip, to undergo Sabbath desecration in order to arrive in Israel before Yom Kippur, or alternatively to stay on Yom Kippur in New York. What is forbidden to reporters according to the rules of protocol should apply to the entire entourage."
"In fact," it reads later, "you are dismissing from the delegation anyone who wants to stay on Yom Kippur in Israel (as the Prime Minister, his entourage, and the professionals want) and is not willing to violate Shabbat and fly during it. We look forward to finding a security solution as soon as possible that will allow us to return together with the Prime Minister - taking into account, of course, the religious writers accompanying the trip."
"The trips of prime ministers over the years have been conducted in such a way that the desecration of Shabbat has been prevented - we insist that the solution will be found this time as well. What is forbidden to reporters - is also forbidden to the prime minister and his entourage," the letter reads.
The letter is signed by the journalist Itamar Eichner, on behalf of the reporters accompanying the trip: Moriah Asraf Walberg, Michael Shemesh, Suleiman Masveda, Yanir Kozin, Lahav Kharkov, Anna Barsky, Ariel Kahana, Hodaya Charish, Tal Schneider, Lazer Berman.
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