Why is Israel opening Ramon Airport to Palestinians?

Israel is taking steps towards the reopening of Ramon Airport for Palestinian travellers from the occupied West Bank, after the first flight of its kind took off on 22 August for Cyprus carrying 43 passengers.

But while billed as a political gesture towards Palestinians, there are clear economic incentives behind the project for Tel Aviv.

The airport, located in the southern Negev desert, was first opened on 21 January 2019 and cost an estimated $600 million to construct.

At the time, Israel sought to ease the pressure on its main Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, especially during the summer. However, it failed to live up to expectations.

Hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the airport's distance from central cities and the climate in southern Israel also created further obstacles.

According to Israeli media, the airport hosted just 20 passengers on nine international flights during the first four months of operations. 

"While billed as a political gesture towards Palestinians, there are clear economic incentives behind the project for Tel Aviv"

Israel turns a loss into a gain

Having failed to become a hub for regional and international travel, Israel has sought to transform Ramon Airport's fortunes by linking politics to the economy.

The proposal to allow Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to use the airport was believed to be part of goodwill measures from Israel unveiled during US President Joe Biden's visit in July.

The first flight to Cyprus in August by Israel's Arkia airline was for tourism purposes and part of an experimental framework for a larger-scale project.

Travellers from Bethlehem and Hebron would be the initial focus of the scheme, with passengers subject to similar security procedures at the King Hussein Bridge crossing into Jordan.

Palestinians from the Gaza Strip will reportedly be allowed to use the airport at a later stage.

Analysts say that Israel would not have initiated the project if it was not confident of its economic success, with Palestinian travellers living under occupation effectively becoming capital to invest in the airport.

Severe Israeli travel restrictions and the resentment of Palestinian travellers at their treatment by Jordanian and Egyptian authorities during overseas trips could also ensure demand for the airport’s services.

As soon as Israel announced the plan, several tourism offices in the occupied West Bank, especially in Bethlehem and Hebron, rushed to announce competitive offers for Palestinians to the airport via the Dhahiriya crossing south of Hebron.

Rami al-Jaabari, director of a tourism and travel office in Hebron, told The New Arab that there has been a huge response from Palestinians to the announcement.

“Tens of thousands of Palestinians in the city contacted me to inquire about travelling through the airport and its financial costs,” he said. 

Al-Jaabari attributes this to the high cost of travelling through Jordan, especially due to Israel's limited opening times at the King Hussein Bridge crossing, which often leaves travellers stranded for hours. 

"Choosing to start flights to Turkey helped in the demand for registration to travel through Ramon Airport, as most of the flights that we organised during this season were to Turkey and Antalya,” he noted. 

Politics aside, he believes “travelling through Ramon is better for Palestinians because it saves them time and effort (...) in addition, it is considered less expensive for travellers, as they pay only the value of the plane ticket without being subject to difficult procedures imposed by the Jordanian authorities".

He said that there had been direct communication between tourism offices and the coordinator of Ramon Airport to arrange travel, which some consider as bypassing the Palestinian Authority.

Hardship for Palestinian travellers

Palestinian residents in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip face great hardship in travelling abroad due to the absence of a Palestinian airport and severe restrictions on movement under Israel's military occupation.

Currently, Palestinian residents of the occupied West Bank who wish to travel abroad are forced to use Queen Alia International Airport near Amman, after passing through the crossing between the West Bank and Jordan.

Palestinians must pass through three different security stations before being allowed to enter Jordan, with few Palestinians able to obtain the special permits required to travel via Israel's Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv.

"Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip face great hardship in travelling abroad due to the absence of a Palestinian airport and severe restrictions on movement under Israel's military occupation"

For Gazans, these restrictions are even more convoluted. Palestinians hoping to leave the besieged coastal territory face arbitrary restrictions from Egyptian authorities and a large number often have to pay bribes to leave via the Rafah Crossing.

Gazans are banned from leaving via Israel as part of Tel Aviv's 15-year blockade, with travel through Egypt the only gateway to the world.

The journey, however, is arduous. It takes at least seven hours to reach Cairo by land due to security measures adopted by the government of Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, with the total travel time from Gaza to Cairo often exceeding 18 hours.

Costs can also be exorbitant, reaching $300 often just for transportation. 

Tensions with Jordan?

Amman submitted an official complaint to the International Civil Aviation Organization in July 2015 over the construction of Ramon Airport, which is located near King Hussein Airport in Aqaba.

The Jordanian aviation sector fears that the Israeli airport will have a negative impact on the country’s own economy.

Annually, about a million Palestinians cross the King Hussein Bridge and it is estimated that Palestinian travellers spend about $12 million on airport transportation, food, and other fees, according to Raafat Al-Maaytah, director of the bridges security department.

"The value of taxes paid by Palestinians on the bridge is about $25 million, in addition to millions of dollars in shopping and buying gifts," Al-Maaytah added.

Jordanian tourism companies and travel offices confirmed these figures to The New Arab, saying over half of their clientele are Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.

Ibrahim Shati, director of Fly Jordan, said in a statement published by Jordanian media that Palestinians constitute 70% of the customers using Jordanian airlines.

He called on Jordan’s Travel and Tourism Agents Association to ask Jordanian authorities to take a position on Ramon Airport due to the potential fallout for the country’s economy.

For some Palestinian travellers, however, Ramon Airport offers an alternative route free from strict Jordanian security protocols which prevent many from undertaking the voyage in the first place.

"Jordan, Egypt, and all the Arab countries have close political relations with Israel, while they demand us not to deal with the Israelis under the pretext that they are occupiers (...) but the reality is that they are carrying out the orders of the Israelis," Muhammad Jaradat from the West Bank city of Hebron told TNA.

"This is our golden opportunity to punish Jordan for all the past years in which their security services deliberately humiliated us and treated us as if we were their enemies and not neighbours (...) while the Israelis who visit [Jordan] are given all facilities."

Iyad Al-Riyahi, a researcher at the Economic and Social Policies Observatory (a non-governmental organisation based in Ramallah), said Ramon Airport could prove popular among Palestinians, especially as the Palestinian Authority has failed to provide solutions for the hardships of travelling through land crossings.

"No Palestinian official will be able to compel Palestinians in the West Bank to take a position rejecting the new airport, especially since they hold VIP cards and enjoy Israeli travel privileges, and some of them travel through the Israeli Lod Ben Gurion Airport," he said.

"In the beginning, we expect that there will be facilitation in procedures, a reduction in flight prices to attract travellers, and then the return of strict security measures, and the trip will not be less in terms of cost or the size of the Israeli humiliation," he added.

Mustafa Ibrahim, a Gaza-based political analyst, told The New Arab that Palestinians are unlikely to criticise the reopening of Ramon Airport, especially considering the difficulties of travelling via the Rafah or King Hussein Bridge crossings.

"There is not a single Palestinian who has not been subjected to harassment, humiliation, inhuman treatment, and long waits with any justification during his travels, in addition to the mismanagement and uncleanliness of the Egyptian and Jordanian crossings."

"No Palestinian official will be able to compel Palestinians in the West Bank to take a position rejecting the new airport, especially since they hold VIP cards and enjoy Israeli travel privileges"

The Palestinian Authority's position

The official position of the Palestinian Authority appears to be a rejection of the project. But lacking sovereignty and with the West Bank's economy deeply connected to Israel's, it would be unable to influence the outcome even if it wanted to.

Officials have, however, urged Palestinians not to use the airport, with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh saying, "should the occupation want to ease up for the Palestinians, let them open Jerusalem Airport," referring to the long-disused Qalandia airport near Ramallah.

According to Palestinian political observers and analysts, it is difficult for the PA to take a position rejecting the Ramon Airport project based on 'sovereign' or 'political' reasons, especially since a large number of its officials travel through Israel's Ben Gurion airport.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Palestinian security authorities have not taken any punitive measures against tourism offices that openly advertised offers for the first test trip.

The PA minister of Transport and Communications has warned though that penalties could be imposed on Palestinians who use Ramon Airport in the future.

Gaza and the Ramon project

Observers and political analysts believe that if the project succeeds in its pilot phase, and is later extended to include facilities for the movement of imports and exports through ports designated for Palestinians in Israel, residents of Gaza could also be allowed access.

A source close to Hamas, who preferred not to be named, told The New Arab that his movement would not mind allowing Gazans to travel via Ramon Airport if it could alleviate the suffering of travellers using the Rafah Crossing.

"The airport appears to be an Israeli project, but in fact, it is also Turkish (...) Turkish airlines are the ones that will organise the flights of Palestinian passengers," the source said, noting that this project would enhance Turkey's political role in support of the Palestinian cause, with Palestinians welcoming Turkish airports as their gateway to the world.

Husam al-Dajani, a writer and political analyst from the Gaza Strip, believes that "Israel would not adopt such a step without extensive study that it is the biggest winner".

But he believes that approval of the project from political factions and the PA could improve travel facilities for Palestinians in the region, giving them better travel choices.

Nonetheless, it remains to be seen how successful or viable the Ramon Airport project will be for Palestinians in the long term.

Moreover, the political gestures purportedly at the heart of the project will do little to mitigate Israel’s 55-year military occupation and its blockade of Gaza, which remain the central obstacles to the lack of rights and freedoms experienced by Palestinians.

Sally Ibrahim is The New Arab's correspondent from Gaza.