Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was almost killed Monday as two Israeli warplanes threatened to shoot down his private jet. Israeli air traffic controllers spotted Blair’s aircraft heading into Israeli airspace as he flew from a Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in the Sinai Peninsula to a major conference on private investment in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. Blair is currently the official Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East on behalf of the UN, the EU, the US, and Russia.

When Blair’s pilot failed to respond to air traffic requests to establish contact, two Israeli fighters were scrambled to intercept what they feared could be a terrorist attack. The warplanes flew above the civilian aircraft to indicate to the pilot that he was a suspected target, at which point contact was made and the warplanes were informed that the jet was carrying the former Prime Minister.

Blair and other delegates he was flying with from the WEF were unaware of the situation until they heard about it in the media. Initial investigations indicate that a technical malfunction on the ground was to blame, due to new systems which had been installed in recent months. Israeli fighters have been scrambled on several other occasions to intercept potential terrorist targets. The Israeli army refused to comment on the incident.

The conference in Bethlehem aimed to attract up to £1 billion in capital to jump-start the Palestinian economy, the main focus of Mr Blair’s mission in the region. More than 2,000 delegates and would-be investors attended the conference, which many welcomed as a positive first step towards creating a viable Palestinian state.

But as the West Bank looked hopefully towards renewed economic growth, Gaza, which is run by Hamas and which has in effect been under an Israeli blockade for almost a year, was again stricken by bloodshed.

Had Israel actually shot down Blair’s plane do you think they’d blame it on Iran, Hamas, or cover it up with help from the US, just like the assault on the USS Liberty in 1967?

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