Orthodox Boycott of El Al Israeli Airlines Making Progress December 6, 2006

Charedi Orthodox Jews have been increasingly incensed with El Al airlines. But let’s put the story in a bit of modern day context (ignoring 1982 complaints by El Al that they could not be Sabbath observant and projected a $40M yearly loss due to its observance).

In 2003, Netanyahu, when the Israeli Finance Ministry first offered its stake in El Al on the private market, said that he would “not stop the new owners from flying on the Sabbath.” In December 2004, Knafaim-Arkia Holdings purchased a 40 percent stake in El Al in a deal which was heralded by one publication as the completion of Israeli government divestment from the airline. Knafaim-Arkia head Izzy Borovich said, in addition to other profitable measures such as linking El Al to international networks, that he would “also look at restarting flights on the Jewish Sabbath holy day — a 25 hour period beginning on Friday at sundown”, repealing the 1982 ban.

They said that such a move would “anger the religious public”. Well it would, and did. But baruch Hashem, Orthodox people put their money where their Torah values were, and showed that the secular Israeli MO of pushing around Torah Jews does have its limits.

After El Al, in response to a scheduling crunch created by an airline strike, decided to allow desecration of the Jewish Sabbath — according to some authorities, the holiest occurrence in the Jewish calendar — Israeli religious authorities demanded, in writing, that El Al vow to never operate on the Sabbath again. Former deputy CEO David Maimon made a similar promise in February 2005. El Al said that scheduling remained their top priority this time, not giving the religious community what they wanted — a commitment to Jewish holiday observance by the sole carrier with a Star of David on its wing.

El Al stated, in effect, that “it was justified in desecrating the holy day to rescue stranded Israelis.” (”stranded”?)

And the religious community did not take that lying down.

Haredi radio station Kol Chai broadcasted last week an address from R’ Chaim Kanievsky, blasting El Al for its Sabbath violation. The Committee for the Sanctity of Shabbat, a religious-political organization in Israel, said through a spokesperson that Israair Airlines, El Al’s main competitor, had given them “their word in writing, not just in an oral agreement like El Al, that if we guarantee them that the entire haredi public will move their business to Israair they will commit to refrain from flying on Shabbat.” The Committe called on the Torah-observant public to distance itself from El Al.

This apparently got El Al to get off its collective tuchis.

(Of course, some people are calling it El Al responding to haredi blackmail.)

Today came the story which gives us the bottom line:

Potential ultra-Orthodox boycott threatens to cripple El Al airlines

By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent

Ultra-Orthodox powerbrokers, who met Monday with Israir representatives, said that the domestic carrier is prepared to cease flying on the Sabbath if the community makes increased use of its services.

In regard to negotiations with Israir, Shabbat committee chairman Rabbi Yitzhak Goldknopf, told Haaretz, “We were in contact with them in the past, but we didn’t take it seriously because we were committed to El Al. After El Al breached our trust, we consider ourselves free of any obligation.”

The non-organized boycott began to expand even before leading rabbis came out with statements against the airline. The committee announced it was preparing to announce “harsh steps.” An official boycott could deal a fatal blow to El Al as it would obligate not only ultra-Orthodox travelers from Israel, but also tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox travelers from abroad. The rabbis of the national religious stream would also be expected to join the decision.

El Al CEO Haim Romano called the committee of rabbis for a meeting but was rebuffed Monday night.

Ultra-Orthodox passengers represent 20-30 percent of the clientele on El Al flights. Ultra-Orthodox passengers typically fly during certain seasons of the year, and to certain destinations.

You screw with the Torah — you lose up to 30% of your business. Not to mention they served treif sandwiches (treif = non-kosher) and offered “fruit” as an alternative to its religious customers.

If religious people continue to have their values disrespected by the one country on the planet called “the Jewish State”, if the Torah is an unwanted visitor on the shores of “the Holy Land”, then El Al probably won’t be the only thing we’ll be boycotting.

I stand behind this boycott 100% if El Al does not make a written agreement palatable to its religious clientele.