Few Israelis noticed the reports about the violent demonstrations and threats against Israeli diplomats at Israel’s missions in Turkey — the embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul — since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israel Defense Forces to respond to rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. The incessant reports about the rocket fire from Gaza and Israel’s offensive in Gaza also drowned out the disparaging, virulent incitement by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Israeli officials believe that Erdogan’s invective was the cause of the unprecedented displays of violence by thousands of Turks against Israel. The wave of anti-Semitism sweeping Turkey in recent days, directed at the Jewish community there, was barely reported in Israel. Media outlets had little time to update viewers on anything directly unrelated to reports of Operation Protective Edge.

Many Israelis, on edge as a result of having to conduct their lives in the intervals between warning sirens and within a 90-second radius of a shelter, were until days ago counting the minutes until the summer vacation they had booked at one of Turkey’s resorts. They were eagerly awaiting the moment when they could travel there, leaving behind their sense of fear, the constant run for cover and the threat of rockets.

The spokesman for the Israeli Airports Authority, Ofer Leffler, told Al-Monitor that 45 daily flights from Israel to Turkey were planned for this summer. According to Leffler, the planned flight schedule for the summer months had more flights from Ben Gurion Airport to Turkey than all of El Al’s annual flights from its hub.