when the haredim will leave us alone . we dont need to obey the rules of their creed . israel is a democratic country !!! . and they are just a minority in israel , they need to understand that !! .

According to Besalel Kahan, El Al "has always declared itself as observant of Shabbat." This is patently untrue because El Al always flew on the Sabbath until they were forced to cave in under a Likud administration that came to power after many years of much more tolerant Labor governments. Not only that, but El Al's strongest selling point is its security, not whether it allows itself to be coerced by the Haredim. And since El Al doesn't only fly to Israel, and since most Israelis aren't Orthodox, what the airline should be stressing is it's excellent record as far as security is concerned. And if, in this age of terrorism, the Haredim want to boycott one of the safest airlines in the world...let them go ahead and do it.

Hi, Is it true that EL AL airlines had an emergency landing this week? Please let me know and a link to that story. Thank you very much Yossi

Keep thinking that Judaism is "their creed" and eventually you will find yourself living in the sea,where your REAL enemies want you to live.

But if we boycott it it won't be safe anymore. That would be dumb. And if you are so convinced it will stay safe with not one Haredi going to Israel to study Torah than go try your luck. But don't go switching to ISRAIR we don't want you.

could of had a massive casualty, where security from Israel was not able to save. What makes you think it would have been saved if at the time elal was not keeping Shabbat. you can have your democracy but casualties might come with it. As history proves Jews are a magnet for destruction more than any nation. Does that tell you anything like stop testing the G-d of the Jews. We see casualties like terror or kassams or car crashes non stop in Israel. But I guess you are immuned to it because where i come from it is not very normal.

an atonement for the Chillul Hashem berabim .

Why are these religious fanatics so destructful. Now they want to destroy the Jewish airline. Pathetic.

as a sabbath observer, i was unable to fly el al from hong kong this past friday morning as i had been told that the flight will be landing at 5:30 PM which was at least one hour in to the shabbat. I was told by the security agent when i arrived at the Hong Kong airport that there was a special counter set up for the sabbath observers and that el al would be providing hotel accomodation and glatt kosher meals in hong kong over the sabbath, plus transportaion to and from the hotel, and will be routing us to tel aviv via bangkok right after the sabbath. What other airline given the same situation would do the same for 25 sabbath observers? I am not one to judge what el al airlines contractual agreement is as far as flying on the Sabbath, but its obvious to me that LY 076 which left hong kong that morning at 11:30 AM had enough people who were willing to take the flight, and i was taught in yeshiva that all Jews were created with the power of making choices, and its up to the individual to decide what one considers the right choices and what are the wrong choices, and to me El Al like any other business is made up of these same individuals making these choices, and they have shown to me personally that they also respect the choices I make by accomodating me, and in turn we have to respect their choices even though we may not agree, but as Torah abiding Jews we have no right to organize a mass boycott as it does not promote any type of darkei shalom, ways of peace.

Without charidi no "divine" protection ? where was this "protection" for the Jewish people , and very much charidi , during the Shoa ? Do'nt come with sinning and other such unbelievable stories . And do not be ashamed of your name , anonymous .

Such incidents , not accidents , occure anywere in the world , with every airline . Most times no casualties . So it was not a special "protection" for El Al because this privatized company was not flying on shabbat . You know my opinion regarding "divine" protection . If the charidi do not want to fly El Al , a reason more for yes doing so for normal people .

"What other airline given the same situation would do the same" About 10 years ago my brother was stranded on Friday afternoon at O'Hare airport in Chicago and American Airlines provided him with a room at the Marriott over Shabbat and tickets to a glatt kosher restaurant.

What an idiotic thing to say. It's like saying "American drivers who insist on high quality cars want to destroy Ford Motor Company." When El Al kept Shabbat and kashrut standards, they operated in the black. It was only when they started to cut corners that their business suffered. If El Al maintains high standards of Shabbat and kashrut then it deserves to succeed as the national airline of the Jewish state. "Jews did not keep the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jews." If El Al wants to operate like any other airline then they should compete for Haredi business like any other airline.

DON'T LET THE RELIGIOUS RUN THE COMPANY OR THE COUNTRY.

so stop threatening and fly something else already. hopefully elal will get better when they are not hampered by exagerrated rules

we as a jewish nation and community must realize that el al bashing does not promote any means of shalom and that all our children hear these days is secular vs charedi, which just makes the rift stronger.

i have been reading all this rhetoric against the haredim wanting to put el al out of business, and instead of all the bashing it may be a better idea to concentrate on showing our children the torah way of behaving, which is not to use rhetoric of any kind against the haredim, nor to make any boycotts against El AL

I'm not a great traveler. I fly approximately every second month abroad from Tel Aviv. I have always preferred El-Al because I like the company and the friendly service they provide. I also appreciate the security. I was in the US during the strike and I was really scared that I might need to stay in NY because of the Shabbath regulation. I also realized that such a situation can become a problem on any flight close to Shabbath. The haredi dominance has produced other inconveniences as well. The endless seating problems with who can sit next to who is annoying. It also greatly irritates me that the handing out of glatt kosher meals takes such a long time and we, the regular customers, are served very late (last) etc. Therefore, I have a feeling that I have to look for another carrier and let the haredis fly on El-Al the way they want.

For all of you who think the Haredim are "coercing" El Al into not flying on Shabbat - True the Haredim are a minority but they are about 30% of El Al business!! The CEO and Borovich Family promised that El Al won't fly on shabbat and they lied. Therefore the the Rabbis have a democratic right to protest and boycott. Welcome to a true democratic Country... Israel

fly British Airways, but check 'em out really well first, ha ha. Funny you all used to extol B.A. and suddenly you've gone shtumm, ho ho. I thank Gd that there is an El Al every time I travel El Al and I love their lounge too, when graciously invited there by one of its members. Before you start screaming, I ain't chareidi, folks. I love my Israeli passport and I love being Jewish. Oh, I have a British passport too...

I understand the people that do not want to fly on the shabbat. However by trying to force a group to accept this as a requirement for others is no better than a Christian forcing a Jew to celebrate Christmas or a Mulsim forcing a Jew to pray to Meca. If people flying on the Shabbat are guilty in the eyes of God so be it, they will pay for that mistake later. But by trying to force another to bow to their beliefs, the rabbis will also pay for the mistake with God. I only wonder what the rabbis think the followers will do if they boycott El Al... maybe they can fly on an Egyptian plane, I"m sure that supporting a Islamic carrier would be much better in the eyes of God.

I can tell there aren't many business people who read this site. If 25-30% of your client base did business based on a premise, why should they continue? For those who are happy with fewer observant people flying, exactly who do you think your tourists are? Reform jews?