Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli’s celebrity wedding sparks spat over open skies above

JERUSALEM – When supermodel Bar Refaeli ties the knot in a lavish star-studded ceremony in northern Israel, the main drama could play out in the skies overhead.

Hoping to avoid the peeping gaze of paparazzi, Refaeli and her fiancé Adi Ezra asked Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority to shut down the airspace above Thursday night’s wedding. Citing safety concerns over potentially congested airspace, the authority agreed. That sparked an angry retort from Israeli Transportation Minister Israel Katz who says “the skies belong to the entire public and exclusivity cannot be granted for commercial reasons for high-profile people.”

After reports emerged that flights would still be restricted, Katz delivered a scathing note to the authority’s director saying “if the skies above Bar Refaeli’s wedding won’t be open, you will be removed from your post.”