Haredi boycott of El Al looms
"Goldknoph hasn't got the first idea what it takes to run an airline, even a charter company," said one haredi businessman who preferred to remain anonymous.
"He thinks he is putting more pressure on El Al to reach an agreement, but he is just making himself look ridiculous."
Goldknoph's announcement came after the three most important spiritual leaders of haredi Jewry approved an official announcement that called for a boycott of El Al.
Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Rabbi Yehuda Leib Steinman, the two most senior leaders of Lithuanian Jewry and the Gerer Rebbe Rabbi Ya'acov Aryeh Alter, the head of the largest Hassidic sect in Israel have already approved the announcement, which will soon be plastered all over haredi neighborhoods and appear on the front pages of haredi newspapers.
"The announcement could be published as soon as this evening," said Goldknoph. "We are waiting for all the leading rabbis to read it and approve what it says."
Although individual rabbis, including Alter and Elyashiv, have already called on their followers not to fly El Al, an official statement issued by the Rabbinic Council for the Holiness of Shabbat would represent a broadbase of haredi spiritual leadership from all camps: Sephardi, Lithuanian and Hassidic.
El Al stands to lose a significant chunk of its clientele if, as is expected, the boycott is called. Haredim make up some 20 to 30 percent of passengers on certain flights to the US and Europe. They are among the most faithful clients who continue to fly even during difficult geopolitical situations in Israel.
In theory, El Al could offset some or all of the losses by flying on Shabbat.
Avraham Rachshefer, editor and publisher of the haredi business magazine Minahalim Nechon estimated that El Al was testing the resiliency of the haredi boycott.
"I don't think El Al purposely flew on Shabbat," said Rachshefer. "But I do think that once it did Izzy [Israel Borovitz, El Al's controlling stake owner and chairman] decided to take advantage of the opportunity to check whether the haredi public would listen to their leaders. If the boycott holds up El Al can always reach a deal later."
However, a source in El Al said that the carrier had already checked the economic feasibility of flying on Shabbat, including the resulting loss of haredi clientele.
"We did not reach any conclusive results."
