Judge rules against Israeli airline’s sexist policy

Israel’s national airline El Al can no longer ask female passengers to move seats to accommodate ultra-orthodox men who do not want to sit next to them, a court has ruled.

A case was brought against the airline by 82-year Renee Rabinowitz after she was asked to move in 2015 following a request by an ultra-orthodox male passenger. Rabinowitz had been told this was company policy.

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However, during the ruling in Jerusalem yesterday, judge Dana Cohen-Lekah said:

Under absolutely no circumstances can a crew member ask a passenger to move from their designated seat because the adjacent passenger doesn’t want to sit next to them due to their gender.

Referring to the policy as “discriminatory”, Cohen-Lekah added that it was a “direct transgression” of the Israeli laws.

The court also ordered the airline to issue a written directive to its entire staff to end the discriminatory practice and state unequivocally that it was illegal.

Rabinowitz received $1,800 in damages.