Cruz claimed the FAA’s decision amounted to an “economic boycott of Israel. Cruz lifts hold on State nominees

Sen. Ted Cruz lifted his hold on State Department nominees after FAA officials briefed him this morning on their decision to bar U.S.-based airlines from flying to Israel for 36 hours last week.

“I appreciate the FAA’s efforts to respond to my questions, and so I have lifted my hold on State Department nominees,” the Texas Republican said in a statement. “The hold was designed to force answers to important questions about why the Obama administration had banned flights to Israel. Thankfully, in response to widespread criticism, the administration has now reversed course and lifted its ban on flights to Ben Gurion International Airport.”


FAA officials put the ban in place after a Hamas-fired missile landed within a mile of the airport and after every U.S. carrier flying to Israel had already canceled their flights for the day. The agency lifted the ban the next day, citing new information from the Israeli government. President Barack Obama called the reversal a “purely technical question” in an interview with CNBC.

Cruz claimed the FAA’s decision amounted to an “economic boycott of Israel” and was meant to punish the country. Israeli politicians and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined him in criticizing the FAA’s call, but didn’t echo his charge that animus toward Israel drove the decision.

Cruz asked a series of pointed questions about the decision, and after a State Department spokesman dismissed them as “offensive and ridiculous,” announced he would place a hold on department nominees until he got answers. This morning’s briefing apparently provided those answers.

“Nevertheless, I remain concerned that the Administration was so willing to impose grave economic harm on our friend and ally Israel in order to try to pressure them into acceding to Secretary Kerry’s foreign policy demands,” Cruz said. “In response, Hamas declared the FAA’s flight ban to be a ‘great victory’ in their terror war on Israel. I hope that the Administration will not go down this path again, and that we will instead stand with bipartisan unity in support of the nation of Israel.”