JFK Airport hosts chartered flights for Israeli soldiers, anxious travelers and a lot of food

(New York Jewish Week) — The El Al desk at JFK Airport’s Terminal 4 was brimming with quiet anxiety on Monday, Oct. 9, as dozens of travelers waited to be checked in holding two documents: their passport, and their emergency summons from the Israel Defense Forces.

The military reservists were preparing to board at least two specially chartered flights to Israel, where they will join a burgeoning war effort. Since Saturday’s invasion of southern Israel by Hamas, which killed at least 900 Israelis, the country has called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists for what Prime Minister Benjamin Net...