The Union of Journalists in Israel on Tuesday urged the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to reverse its decision to bar journalists from joining Benjamin Netanyahu’s flight to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida later this month.

Journalists who regularly cover the premier, including at The Times of Israel, were notified by a PMO spokesperson last week that they would not be permitted to join the premier’s flights on the Wing of Zion aircraft, and would need to arrange travel independently for the December 28-January 1 trip. The spokesperson did not provide any explanation or reference an established policy on the matter.

The union sent a letter Tuesday through its legal counsel, Amir Basha, to the PMO’s legal adviser, Shlomit Barnea Farago, demanding a reversal of the decision.

The letter emphasized that Wing of Zion contains a designated area for journalists that was allocated with public resources. “Accordingly, excluding journalists from the flight........

© The Times of Israel