A flight from Athens to Tel Aviv was delayed by more than 90 minutes, in an episode resulting in two passengers being asked to disembark the plane, under protest from other passengers.

According to a statement issued by Aegean Airlines, “on the scheduled flight A3 928 from Athens to Tel Aviv on January 3, a number of Israeli passengers persistently and vocally complained about two Israeli co-passengers.

The company undertook additional security checks, which, as expected, revealed no issues.

This isolated and unfortunate event was quickly resolved thanks to the cooperation of the two passengers, who were offered tickets for the next flight to Tel Aviv, all expenses covered by the company”.

Israeli media identified the two passengers as an Israeli-Arab and a Palestinian; the airline said one of the men held an Israeli passport and the other had a valid Israeli residence permit. It did not mention their ethnicity.

They were accused of being terrorists by two Jewish-Israeli passengers, who incited other passengers to demand their departure.

The crew could not follow the row in Hebrew, but said that the Jewish men appealed “very vocally and persistently” to conduct additional security checks on the Arabs.

“While it is indeed unfortunate that they were possibly racially profiling the customers, indeed their fellow Israelis … safety must be first,” the company said.

By the time the police arrived to check the two passengers’ passports, finding nothing suspicious, the outcry had spread.

“It started with three or four people and by the end there were 60 to 70 people standing up, demanding that the pair disembark,” a company spokesperson said.

“The pilot said anyone who does not feel safe to fly should disembark and would not be compensated. But by that stage, the two men were in a poor state and wanted to leave themselves.”

Even with their adversaries off the plane, the Jewish Israelis continued to demand the detention of the Arabs until they were warned they would also be forced off the plane, without a replacement ticket.

The two men settled down and the flight arrived in Tel Aviv without incident, with the Arab Israeli men following them the next day.

The incident has ignited a heated response from the left-wing Knesset party Meretz, accusing Aegean for succumbing to pressure in a textbook incident of racial profiling.

Calling for a parliamentary committee meeting, the party’s deputy, Michal Rozin said, “It can’t be that a commercial company, which has signed aviation agreements with Israel, allows itself to disembark passengers based on their physical appearance at the demands of other passengers”.

Amnesty International’s Israeli office acknowledged tension following a string of lone wolf attacks by Palestinians on Jews, but blamed the Israeli government for fostering a climate of paranoia.

“People should not be surprised by such shameful acts when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands at the forefront of incitement and the racist narrative against an entire sector of society,” said Yonatan Gher, who heads the human rights group in Israel.