An Arutz Sheva article by Giulio Meotti, Lynched in London suggests that Europe is no longer a safe place for Jews. http://tinyurl.com/6djmdam
Meotti cites several anti-Israel, anti-Jewish instances in the UK, but nothing elsewhere.
Still, he makes a point that Islam is making rapid and major political headway on the continent as well as in the UK.
Which brings me to Delta.
Delta, which some knee-jerk Jews castigated recently for being a code share with Saudia's national airline, and possibly flying to, Saudia (not a likely prospect when all facts are considered), has non-stop flights between New York and Lod, and between Atlanta, Delta's home base, and Lod.
The only other airline, as far as I know to offer non-stop flights between the US and Israel is El Al.
There is the Pacific option that could avoid touch-down in Europe, but for a resident of the eastern U.S. the trip would be painfully long and expensive.
You can't get there from here
.There ARE non-stop flights from the Far East and there are one- and two-stop flights that avoid Europe, but travelers will be seeing some "interesting" places; Seoul, South Korea, for example. Korean Air has an 11-plus hour flight from the Korean capital.
Surprisingly, the least expensive flight - a non-stop from Hong Kong to Lod - is via El Al !, coming in at US$1245 - plus the usual additional fees. The flight to Lod is just a few minutes shy of 12 hours in the air. El Al also operates a code share flight out of Bangkok.
The Turks seems to fly to Lod from almost everywhere, but all Turkish Air flights are via Istanbul. While officially still aggrieved by Israelis "dropping in" on a Turkish flag "good for terrorists" ship, the Turks DO like Israeli and Jewish tourists; flying Turkish Airways should be about as safe as Royal Jordanian and probably less expensive at US$1263. Flight time going by way of Istanbul is 15-plus hours.
Royal Jordanian flies out of Hong Kong to Bangkok then on to Amman and finally to Lod. So far, the peace between Jordan and Israel seems to be holding, despite the "Arab spring."
All prices are round trip as posted on Kayak.com, effective July 13, 2011.
One of the good things about flying Delta is that those left on the ground can track the flight's progress.
Six of my relatives, including two small children, were to fly from MIA to MAD and then on to TLV. The flight to MAD, on an American Airlines 7*7, was supposed to leave at 3:20 p.m. The flight actually left at 8:36 p.m. The arrival at MAD was supposed to be at 9:something, with the connecting Iberia-operated-by-El Al flight departing at 11:40 a.m.; lots of time to go from arrival gate to departure gate via two - two - security checks.
But because the flight was 5 hours late leaving MIA, it arrived at MAD a few minutes after 11 a.m.
Did the relatives make the connecting MAD-TLV flight? No way to know. (American said the tickets were used, but . . . ) The next Iberia flight to TLV was scheduled for 10:something in the evening. Pity the poor folks waiting for the travelers at Lod. Pity the poor kids. (Granny failed to pack emergency ratios for the trip. ALWAYS pack emergency ratios - snacks, sandwiches - in the carry-on luggage; ALWAYS.)
Delta may have a code share agreement with the Saudi airline and the Saudis may be - OK, they are - intolerant bigots, but that does not mean Delta equates to Saudi Air.
The U.S. has an embassy and ambassador in Saudia. Does that make the U.S. as evil as the Saudis? The U.S. has an embassy and ambassador in Syria; does that mean the U.S. is as bad as the despot Bashar al-Assad ?
Israel's El Al has a code share agreement with South China Air, an airline in a country not known for human rights. El Al also has a code share agreement with Iberia, Spain's national airline. Spain, lest we forget, brought us the Inquisition.
If any one plans to fly between the US and Israel while avoiding Europe, there are two choices at least from the U.S. east coast: Delta and El Al.
FOR THE RECORD - The travelers from MIA to TLV via MAD made the connection at MAD and arrived at TLV just about on schedule. Their considerable luggage is vacationing in Spain as this note is appended.
