KLM decided not to operate a flight to Israel on Thursday after all to bring Dutch people back home. The flight is now being conducted by defense forces, which also recalled Dutch nationals from Israel on Wednesday. KLM said in a statement it was pleased that the Ministry of Defense could provide a military flight to get Dutch nationals home safely from Tel Aviv. “Earlier today, KLM unfortunately had to decide not to operate a repatriation flight. We wanted to comply with the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the repatriation of Dutch citizens from Tel Aviv, provided that a safe flight was possible. However, based on the most recent assessments of the security situation in Israel, we have decided that the flight cannot be operated by us. We took this decision with a heavy heart because we realized that many people were looking forward to a flight back to the Netherlands. For KLM, the safety of crew and passengers is of the utmost importance.’ In Israel, 500 Dutch people were detained. Nearly 200 were picked up Wednesday on a Defense Department Airbus, with mostly school children on board. (Photo Shutterstock).
