Willie Balk News Today

As soldiers, reservists and volunteers head to Israel, supporters gathered near the El Al counter at Kennedy Airport to give them supplies and cheers.

NEW YORK — Ilai Lichtental was in Houston at 2 p.m. on Tuesday when his cellphone rang. It was the commanding officer of his search-and-rescue brigade of the Israeli Defense Forces, asking Lichtental to end his vacation in America, leave his family and report for duty, immediately. Seventeen hours later, on Wednesday afternoon, Lichtental was surrounded by hundreds of well-wishers at John F. Kennedy International Airport near the ticket counter for El Al Airlines, one of the few carriers ...