Posted on 11/28/21
| News Source: MATZAV
Ilana Smith flew to Israel last weekend with the aim of comforting her friend, Devorah Kay, after her son Eli’s death. “Our families have been close friends for years,” she said.
She purposely delayed her trip until the end of the shivah, following the death of Eliyohu Dovid Kay, who was murdered by a Palestinian gunman in Yerushalayim Old City last week.
There were five South African citizens, two of whom came to comfort the family of Eli Kay. According to the passengers, when they left for Israel on Thursday, the restrictions imposed by the Corona Cabinet on flights from Africa had not yet come into force, and after a stopover in Dubai on Friday afternoon, they landed at Ben Gurion Airport. Upon landing in Israel, the passengers were taken for a conversation in a side room, where they were informed that their entry had been prohibited and they would be returned to Dubai.
The passengers, shomrei Shabbos, expressed their opposition and said that this would lead to the desecration of Shabbos. Upon arrival at the airport in Dubai, it was made clear to them that they were not allowed to stay in the country and they were flown back to South Africa on Shabbos
One of the passengers, a friend of Kasriel Kay, Eli’s brother, said: “I support the rules to save lives and maintain public health, but we flew before the prime minister’s decision. I did not even know of the decision. As a Jew and Zionist who supports Israel, I would expect leaders to hear from us. A Jewish state should not do such a thing.”
Ilana Smith commented, “They treated us like criminals, and shouted at us to shut up and not ask questions. I told them that I could not violate Shabbat and they told me that they would arrest me if I did not board the plane. I had not eaten in more than 24 hours, and for the first time in my life I desecrated Shabbat. In Dubai, they were nicer and at least explained to us what was happening and why it was happening.”
Former Knesset member Dov Lipman, founder of Yad LaOlim, remarked, “I am shocked. …I hope that all the people of Israel will be shocked by this story and that it will make our leaders behave differently in the future.”
Meanwhile, the Kay family has expressed displeasure in recent days over Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s failure to visit them during the shivah. An acquaintance of the family said that “it hurt them very much, they asked again and again – how could it be? They said that in South Africa, the president would come to such a shivah. He had enough time to get his child vaccinated, but on the way from Yerushalayim to Raanana, he did not have time to stop in for a few minutes? I do not know his schedule, but it’s really weird and unusual.”