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15 Kiselv 5767 - December 6, 2006 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
El-Al Operated Dozens of Flights on Shabbos for Purely Financial Reasons

By Betzalel Kahn

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.

 

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