(August 14, 2014) A number of local post offices in the United States have recently told customers that they are not accepting mail for delivery to Israel due to the conflict with Gaza, the Anti Defamation League reported on Thursday.
The ADL has received complaints in recent days that local post offices in Massachusetts, Michigan and New Jersey were refusing to send mail to the Jewish state.
“The postal employees have told these individuals that current USPS policy says that mail to Israel cannot be accepted because of the current crisis,” ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman said.
“Only once employees sought clarification from supervisors in Washington did these post offices accept packages and letters to Israel,” he added.
Mail delivery was halted for 36 hours following the US Federal Aviation Authority’s decision earlier this month to prohibit US airlines from flying to and from Ben-Gurion airport in light of the rocket threat from Gaza.
However, with the lifting of the flight ban, mail delivery from the US to Israel was resumed.
The ADL penned a letter to US Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe, stating that postal authorities in the local branches had misunderstood the temporary ban on delivery to Israel as permanent.
The League urged the Postal Service to ensure that all of its employees are aware that mail delivery to Israel has not been suspended.
The FAA ban on flights, and subsequent temporary halt in mail delivery, came on July 22 after a rocket fired from Gaza hit a home in Yehud, less than 5 kilometers from Ben-Gurion airport.
via US customers complain post offices refusing mail delivery to Israel | JPost | Israel News.