Israeli leaders have a long tradition of slumming it when it comes to travelling, often choosing to fly in military cargo planes or chartered airliners instead of on flashy private jets.
That is a custom that Binyamin Netanyahu is keen to end as he returns to power, making it his priority to bring the Wing of Zion, Israel’s most expensive aircraft, into service.
The prime minister commissioned the refurbishment of the Boeing 767 for 729 million shekels (£173 million) when he was previously in office, but it has languished in a desert hangar since he was forced from power in June 2021.
The replacement government, led by Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, rejected the Wing of Zion as an expensive plaything. Lapid, who as leader of the opposition had campaigned against the project, called it “showy and unnecessary” and called for it to be sold. As prime minister, he and Bennett made a point of flying on official trips without their wives, unlike Netanyahu who is escorted on every foreign trip by his wife, Sara, and often one of his sons.
Although Israel has in recent decades reached a GDP level comparable to western countries, a spartan tradition has endured and most of its leaders have been opposed to the idea of a dedicated VIP aircraft. Its head of state, President Herzog, makes a point of taking commercial flights.
Advertisement
According to a report by Israel’s government watchdog office, the original refurbishment went four times over budget, largely because of additional work demanded for a VIP compartment to serve Netanyahu, 73, and his wife.
The airliner, previously part of the Qantas fleet, had received a new interior, encrypted communications and defence systems to protect it from cyberattacks, and anti-aircraft missiles. But after millions of shekels were spent and nearly five years of work was done at the Israel Aerospace Industry plant in Ben Gurion airport, Tel Aviv, Netanyahu never got a chance to fly on the Wing of Zion.
•What type of Israel does Binyamin Netanyahu really want?
When he was forced out of office, the government abandoned the Wing of Zion project and the aircraft, which had completed its test flights and was ready for use, was sent for storage to an isolated hangar on an airbase in the Negev desert. A designated unit of the Israeli Air Force that was to operate the aircraft was disbanded.
Netanyahu was sworn in again as prime minister on Thursday last week, thanks to a coalition of hard-right and ultra-religious parties. The new Netanyahu government plans an expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a programme of legal changes that will drastically weaken the Supreme Court, and increased funding for religious schools, which refuse to teach maths and sciences.
Advertisement
According to reports in the Israeli media the Defence Ministry, which operates the plane, has already been ordered to prepare it for Netanyahu’s forthcoming foreign trips. Such is the rush to get Wing of Zion into service that, there are no Boeing 767s in the service of Israeli airlines or its military and therefore no aircrews qualified to fly it, the first flights may have to be crewed by test pilots.