Control tower at Ben Gurion Airport
Control tower at Ben Gurion AirportFlash 90

In recent weeks, pilots of various airlines have been dealing with a phenomenon that has returned after three years: Severe GPS disruptions on planes as they prepare to land at Ben Gurion Airport.

According to a report on Monday by Kan 11 News, the Russian army's activity at the Khmeimim Air Base in the Syrian port city of Latakia includes the operation of advanced and powerful defense systems, which disrupt the electromagnetic waves in the eastern Mediterranean. This also disrupts the landing of aircraft in Israel.

Israel turned to the Russians and asked them to stop using the system due to the damage it causes. The Russians refused the request and replied that the systems were intended to protect their soldiers, the report said.

Meanwhile, the Israeli defense establishment is working to neutralize the disruption caused by the Russian navigation systems.

A pilot for one of the airlines in Israel said that "these incidents hit us quite hard in early 2019, and at the time it more or less worked itself out in one way or another. In the last three or four weeks we are starting to re-experience it in the vicinity of Ben Gurion Airport. There are speculations that this is a kind of action by the Russians, who are trying to stop the possibility of them being harmed by disrupting GPS systems."