Israeli Flag Carrier Reeling After Violating Ban on Discriminating to Satisfy Haredi Passengers

The decision by the crew on an ElAl flight from New York to Tel Aviv last week to allow themselves to be bullied into breaking discrimination laws has unleashed a torrent of trouble for the beleaguered national flag carrier. Despite a court ruling prohibiting the moving of passengers to accommodate demands by those who won’t sit next to a man or a woman, the crew in question allowed a stalemate to continue for an hour before caving in to the prohibited path. Another passenger’s social media commentary of events quickly went viral. On Sunday, the CEO of a major Israeli hi-tech company announced its ban on its employees from flying ElAl because of its discriminatory practices. That apparently sent the cash-poor carrier’s boss into action. ElAl chief Gonen Usishkin issued the statement that probably should have followed the court ruling. He said, “from now on, a passenger who refuses to sit next to another passenger will be immediately removed from the flight.”