3/5/23
By RT News
Widespread protests over proposed reforms mean El Al cannot staff the prime minister's flight to Rome

Israel’s government has reportedly looked to find another airline to fly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Rome after the country’s national air carrier, El Al, was unable to find any pilots or flight attendants to staff this week’s state visit to Italy.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev intends to open up bidding to other airlines, such as Arkia and Israir, after El Al missed a 2pm Sunday deadline to confirm Thursday’s flight, according to Israeli media outlets. The national carrier couldn’t find any pilots or cabin crew to volunteer for the mission amid massive protests in the country over the ruling coalition’s proposed judicial reforms, the Jerusalem Post said.

El Al blamed the staffing issue on a shortage of pilots who are qualified to fly a Boeing 777, the aircraft requested by the prime minister, “among other reasons.”

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Netanyahu is scheduled to fly to Rome on Thursday, where he will meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, before returning to Israel on Saturday. Meloni was quick to congratulate Netanyahu when he won a majority in Israel’s election last November, returning to power as PM after an 18-month absence. He reportedly plans to follow up his Italy trip with a visit to Germany next week.

All but three of the 40 reserve pilots in the Israeli Air Force’s 69th fighter squadron announced on Sunday that they won’t attend a scheduled training session on Wednesday, in protest against the proposed judicial reforms.

While protests have dragged on all year, Netanyahu said on Sunday that the organizers are a “dangerous group” that wants to “burn down the house and create chaos in the country.”

El Al, which is dependent on loans and financing guarantees from the government, could face punitive measures over its failure to staff Netanyahu’s trip, Regev told public broadcaster Kan. The airline said later on Sunday that it “proudly carries the Israeli flag” and will handle Netanyahu’s flight as scheduled, but the Jerusalem Post claimed it still hadn’t found a co-pilot or cabin crew.

source:
https://www.rt.com/news/572506-el-al-pilots-refuse-netanyahu-trip/

Israeli fighter pilots refuse to train in protest against judicial reforms

3/6/23

(JNS) Israeli fighter pilots have refused to train in protest at the government's judicial reforms that have triggered a wave of protests across the country.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant denounced the decision on Sunday, saying: “The situation today requires dialogue and quickly. We face heavy and complex external challenges, and any call to refuse orders harms the functioning of the Israel Defence Forces and its ability to carry out its tasks."

Earlier in the day, a group of 37 Israeli Air Force reserve pilots announced that they would skip a day of combat training this week.

“On Wednesday, March 8, we will devote our time to discourse and thinking for the sake of democracy and the unity of the people, and therefore we will not report to reserve duty on this day, with the exception of operational activity. During the rest of the week, we will report [for duty] as planned,” the reservists wrote in a letter.

They represent nearly the entire 40-pilot strength of the IAF’s 69 “Hammers” Squadron, which operates F-15I Ra’am (“Thunder”) fighters...

On Friday, IAF head Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar sent a letter to reserve pilots and navigators calling on them not to abandon their responsibilities to the state should the judicial reforms become law...

Israeli opposition leaders on Sunday again rejected overtures for negotiations under the auspices of the president...

“From the very first day we said we were in favor of a dialogue in an attempt to reach an understanding on the reform and at least to reduce the controversy,” the leaders of the reform said in a joint statement. “We respond to the call for talks without preconditions and call on others in the opposition to respond to the initiate and attend talks with the president on Tuesday.”

Opposition leaders, however, swiftly rejected the proposal, demanding that the reforms’ legislative process be frozen.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been barred by the attorney general from discussing the reform due to a possible conflict of interest with his ongoing criminal trial, called on the opposition to present their own proposal for judicial overhaul.

“For eight weeks we have been calling for negotiations. We are bringing the reform to the Knesset to decide,” he said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting. “I call upon those in the opposition to do something simple: Present your alternative in an attempt to reach an agreement.”

The premier said that with goodwill an agreement could be reached “within days.”

Protester organisers have announced a “Day of National Disruption” against the reforms for Thursday, following up on one that turned violent last Wednesday. (excerpts)

Source:
https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/israeli-fighter-pilots-refuse-to-train-in-protest-against-judicial-reforms-1i6GdRPY3I3sP2jrQOrbbr

My comment: Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been protesting the Netanyahu regime in power. They believe that the war party has gained power and will take the Israeli nation into a devastating war that they do not believe in. GE