Plane carrying freed Israeli hostages and US lawmakers clipped at DC airport
Released hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel were in Washington D.C. to advocate for the release of the remaining captives.

Released hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel speak at the AJC Washington ambassador’s Seder. (Screenshot)
(JTA) — Two planes carrying members of Congress as well as the released Israeli hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel clipped wings on the taxiway at Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday.
The two American Airlines jets were taxiing when their winglets came into contact at the Washington, D.C. airport. No injuries were reported on the planes.
Also on the planes were a number of U.S. representatives from New York and New Jersey, including Josh Gottheimer, a Jewish Democrat, and Ritchie Torres, perhaps the most outspoken pro-Israel Democrat in the House.
The Siegels, who were both taken hostage by Hamas, on Oct. 7, 2023 were on one of the planes, according to a social media post by Ynet News. Aviva was released in a November 2023 ceasefire and Keith, an American-Israeli, was released more than a year later, in the ceasefire that ended last month.
The couple have become vocal advocates for the release of the remaining hostages, and were visiting Washington D.C. in part to speak at the American Jewish Committee’s Washington diplomatic seder on Wednesday night ahead of Passover. In his remarks, Keith Siegel urged President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume negotiations and broker a deal to return the remaining 59 hostages, 24 of whom are thought to be alive.
“During my captivity, I spent most of my days longing for my family, wondering what they were enduring and how each day was unfolding for them,” Siegel said in his address. “Now, my greatest priority is to cherish every minute with them and to fight for the return of the 59 hostages who are still kept captive. I cannot begin to heal until all 59 hostages are home.”
The couple told Ynet that they were startled by the incident, “but are continuing the mission.”
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