A wave of cancellations broke over El Al early this week as
the chareidi community reacted to the chilul Shabbos
of the air line this past Shabbos. Several frequent fliers
reported that they received personal calls from mangers of El
Al asking them not to cancel their El Al trips. Nonetheless,
Chaim Romano, the director of El Al, was unrepentant, as he
said in remarks to the press that the company reserves the
right to fly on Shabbos in "unusual circumstances."
Vaadas HaRabbonim Lemaan Kedushas HaShabbos, under the
auspices of gedolei Yisroel shlita, met Sunday night
to discuss the blatant, wide-scale chilul Shabbos
perpetrated by El-Al this Shabbos following other violations
of commitments to completely refrain from flying on Shabbos
and Jewish holidays.
At the meeting the speakers noted that gedolei Yisroel
were deeply alarmed to hear how El-Al contravened one of the
core tenets of the Jewish people, and they voiced protest
against the shameful conduct of El-Al executives, who failed
to honor the requests by rabbonim and public figures to
cancel the flights rescheduled for Shabbos.
Participants at the meeting said gedolei Yisroel
approve of the decision by many observant passengers to
cancel their reservations on El-Al. "Vaadas HaRabbonim,
following consultations with gedolei Yisroel shlita
from all circles of Torah-true Judaism, are preparing to
notify the public in the coming days of severe, far-reaching
steps against El-Al," read the press statement.
Last week's Histadrut strike caused severe disruptions in the
flight schedule. In order to squeeze in as many delayed,
postponed and cancelled flights as possible El-Al, flagrantly
disregarding longstanding pledges, and decided to operate
flights on Shabbos. For decades the company has followed a
policy of not operating flights on Shabbos, though since 1977
subsidiary company Sun D'Or, which is fully owned by El-Al,
has operated flights on Shabbos.
At first El-Al denied its planes would be flying on Shabbos,
but in a press release on Friday the company clearly stated
economic considerations are of central importance to the
airline. "The company has always followed a practice of doing
its utmost to bring the passengers to their destinations as
scheduled. In the event of delays of El-Al flights due to
events beyond their control, such as the general strike
[last] Wednesday, the company's central concern is and
remains bringing the passengers to their destinations on
time. [On Thursday and Friday] the company operated 70
outgoing and incoming flights. The company will provide
alternatives for Sabbath observers to prevent them from
facing concerns of Sabbath desecration."
The company's response was an insult to millions of Shabbos-
observant Jews around the world who have shown a preference
for El-Al, largely based on its pledges not to operate on
Shabbos.
MK Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz called El-Al's decision commercial
"suicide," noting that for the sake of a few dozen flights El-
Al was willing to ruin its relations with the Shabbos-
observant public and destroy their faith in the company.
According to the flight schedule at Ben Gurion Airport,
nearly 30 El-Al planes flew on or shortly before Shabbos. For
example Flight 101 left Tel Aviv at 5:00 p.m. on Friday
(after sunset) and landed in Miami at 1:00 am EST. Flight 082
from Bangkok landed at 4:15 p.m., five minutes before candle-
lighting time. Flight 006 from Los Angeles arrived shortly
after midnight on Shabbos Night. The flight schedule board
showed dozens of other instances of chilul Shabbos and
other flights may also have departed or arrived, but were not
listed before or after Shabbos.
MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni said that since at the time of its
privatization the government took responsibility for insuring
El-Al would continue to observe Shabbos, UTJ is consulting
with gedolei Yisroel regarding the possibility of
submitting a no-confidence motion.
There were press reports that other companies are considering
making special arrangements to serve the chareidi community.
For example Israir has been exploring the possibility of
halting its Shabbos flights and making some sort of binding
contractual commitment not to fly on Shabbos. Foreign
companies have also made various offers.
