Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the inauguration of the Ramon International Airport in Eilat on Monday, hailing it as an asset that would bolster Israel's security as well as provide a boost to tourism and the economy.
Ramon Airport is designed to be able to accommodate any aircraft that might have to be re-routed from Ben-Gurion International Airport (TLV) in the event of a major conflict.
Netanyahu said that the new airport would "provide us with further and important strategic capabilities – at normal times and, as much as is needed, during times of emergency."
During Operation Protective Edge in 2014, Hamas fired rockets and missiles at central Tel Aviv and the suburbs north of Tel Aviv. One rocket landed approximately one mile from the airport, prompting foreign airlines to briefly flights into and out of Ben-Gurion. Carriers Delta, US Airways, and United all suspended flights to Tel Aviv. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a ban on all U.S. flights to Ben-Gurion Airport, which Hamas hailed as a "great victory" and which greatly worried Israelis.
On July 23, 2014, then-Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg took an El Al flight to Tel Aviv to show solidarity with Israel and prove that its airport was safe.
Diplomatic efforts led to the FAA lifting its ban after 36 hours.
Ramon is 200 km (124 miles) from Gaza and 370 km (230 miles) from Lebanon. It is at a safe remove from Islamist insurgents in the Egyptian Sinai and has a security fence billed as a precaution against shoulder-fired missile attacks from Jordan.
In his speech, Netanyahu also touched on the Iranian missile attack on northern Israel on Sunday.
"Last night, the air force strongly attacked Iranian targets in Syria after Iran launched a missile from there at our territory," the prime minister said.
"We will not ignore such acts of aggression as Iran attempts to entrench itself militarily in Syria and given [the] explicit statements by Iran that it intends to destroy Israel.
"We are acting against Iran and against the Syrian forces that abet the Iranian aggression. Whoever tries to hurt us – we hurt them. Whoever threatens to destroy us will bear the full responsibility," Netanyahu said.
