"What's the difference between Tel Aviv and Donetsk? They are both in war zones."
russian rebels possess(ed) medium-range SAM(s), huge difference
flights to TLV are out of reach of Hamas MANPADs, in theory the plane could get hit from Hamas rocket or even Iron Dome but in theory it could get hit by a meteorite too
"Remember Israeli airliners have counter measures against missiles, as demonstrated by Arkia in Mombassa in 2002."
yupp, but those are not guaranteed to work every time