At least two families were denied reimbursement by their travel insurance company when their trips to Israel were canceled due to the attacks by Hamas. AIG Travel Guard Insurance representatives told the would-be travelers that its policy didn’t cover war, or acts of war, only “acts of terror.” Arizona’s Family On Your Side (AFOYS) interviewed the families and aired coverage of a video showing that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken referred to the violence as a terrorist attack, specifically distinguishing it from war. However, AIG will not backtrack on what it told the families, even after AFOYS contacted the company.
Sheri Hathaway, who was denied reimbursement along with her husband and children, told The Arizona Sun Times that she would never use AIG again. They spent nearly $12,000, excluding airfare. “Hamas is a terrorist organization,” she said. “This happened as a terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas and clearly states in their policy that they do cover terrorist incidents, which this clearly was.”
AIG’s policy states, “Terrorist Incident means an act of violence that is deemed terrorism by the U.S. Department of State, or that is committed by any person acting on behalf of, or in connection with, any organization that is classified as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. Department of State.” Hamas was placed on that list in 1997. The policy said “an act of war (declared or undeclared)” is excluded.
During an appearance on CNN one day after Hamas launched the attack, Blinken said, “This is the worst attack on Israel since the Yom Kippur war on Israel in 1973, 50 years ago. But there’s a big difference. That was a conventional war between countries, between armies. This, a massive terrorist attack, on Israeli civilians.”
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