El Al Unable To Find Staff Willing To Fly Netanyahu to Italy

Israel’s flag carrier El Al has been unable to provide a full complement of crew for a flight carrying Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Italy this week as none of the airline’s pilots or attendants offered to staff the plane.

Israeli television reported that some of the pilots who declined to fly the couple to Rome on Thursday cited their opposition to the controversial judicial reforms currently being pushed through parliament. Opinion polls have shown that the majority of Israelis are opposed to the overhaul and large-scale protests have taken place against it every Saturday night for nine consecutive weeks.

The Israeli media said that whenever the prime minister travels abroad on a commercial flight, El Al puts out a tender for the crew, but has had no takers from among its staff. Transportation Minister Miri Regev then opened the tender up to other airlines, including Arkia and Israir.

On Sunday, former defense minister and ex-Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Benny Gantz, who now leads the opposition National Unity party, urged IDF reservists not to boycott their annual military service in protest at the judicial reforms and imploring them to turn up for duty “no matter what.”

Reservists from across the three branches of the military have said that they would not carry out their service because of the judicial reforms, which critics say endanger the country’s democracy.