Etihad Airways, a United Arab Emirates-based airline that receives American taxpayer money, has omitted Israel from its official flight map.
According to the New York Post, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security spends $425,000 annually on a security facility for Etihad at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
The airline, a partner of American Airlines, has an official map that shows all of the countries that surround Israel, except for the Jewish state itself.
In 2010, Etihad began teaching its workers how to identify Israeli travelers by their “accents and traits,” the BBC reported. The carrier has refused to transport Israelis in the past, according to the Post.
Eleven U.S. senators blasted then-DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano last year for continued funding for the facility.
“We question whether the department is choosing preclearance locations based on risk or based on a pay-to-play process,” they wrote to Ms. Napolitano in May, the Post reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.