An unusual incident took place today (Tuesday) at the airport when Nick Kolyohin, an Israeli-Russian independent journalist, was removed from Prime Minister Netanyahu's flight, which was headed to Washington for a meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Kolyohin, who was part of the press delegation invited to visit the White House, was preparing to board the "Wing of Zion" plane but was detained and removed just minutes before takeoff.
The journalist, who immigrated to Israel as a child and served in the IDF, claims that the decision to remove him was made solely by security officials, and that he was not given any information about the reason for his removal from the plane, even though his participation had been previously approved.
The Prime Minister's Office stated: "The security authorities decided not to approve the journalist’s participation in the flight due to security considerations, but we cannot provide further details at this stage."
The Shin Bet stated: "According to its mandate and duties under the law, the service is responsible, among other things, for securing the Prime Minister. As part of this, decisions are made to minimize risks to the Prime Minister and the information surrounding him. Naturally, it is not possible to address the reasons behind individual decisions."