Blair's plane almost shot down in Israel

JERUSALEM, May 23 (UPI) -- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair had a close call Thursday when two Israeli jets threatened to shoot down his plane, officials said.

Blair, now a special Middle East envoy, was en route to Bethlehem from Egypt when his private jet was spotted entering Israeli airspace.

When controllers could get no response from the pilot and fearing a terrorist attack, they scrambled fighter jets to intercept the aircraft, the Times of London reported Friday.

The pilot identified himself after the fighter jets got in position to fire and the interceptors peeled off and returned to base, the report said.

Blair and his traveling companions were not told of the incident until after they had landed.