El Al Pilots Refuse to Crew Netanyahu’s Plane to Rome in Apparent Protest of Judicial Reform

Pilots from Israel’s flagship El Al carrier refused to fly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Italy for an official visit in apparent protest over the government’s plans for judicial reform, the airline said, before announcing that it had found a crew.

A tender that was issued received no volunteers from either pilots or flight attendants, forcing the premier’s office to announce that it would open the tender to other Israeli airlines.

However, well after the tender deadline had already passed, El Al CEO Dina Ben Tal Ganancia announced that a crew had been located to fly Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, out to Italy.

After the tender deadline had lapsed, El Al issued a statement:

The issue of manning the prime minister’s flight is yet to be resolved due to a shortage of qualified pilots in our Boeing 777 squadron, among other reasons.

We are working to man this flight…in accordance with company procedures, as we have done countless times before.

Since its establishment, El Al has flown heads of state for important national missions and will continue to do so in the future, as it is required.

Netanyahu is slated to meet with his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni.

In a separate incident this week, 37 out of the 40 reserve pilots in an Air Force fighter jet squadron announced they would not show up to a pre-scheduled training session this Wednesday in protest of the government’s plan to reform the judiciary.

Opposition member and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who has called for mass protests over the reform, appealed to the reservists to fulfil their duty “no matter what.”

Earlier this month, Zeev Raz, a former Israel Air Force fighter pilot and leader of the protest movement against the reform, called for Netanyahu’s assassination.