Arkia Employees Vow Fight if Hasidic Buyout Halts Shabbat Flights

Chairman Avi Edri of Arkia's Aviation and Tourism Workers Corporation warned that the union will wage a labor fight if the Nakash brothers sell Israel's second-largest carrier to Brooklyn Hasidic developer Rabbi Ezra Unger, 36, who insists on halting all Shabbat and Jewish-holiday flights. Unger, a Vizhnitz Hasid raised in Monsey and now based in Jerusalem, is in advanced talks for the Nakash family's more-than-70-percent stake, held through Jordache Enterprises since 2006. The employees' corporation, holder of a 22.14 percent stake, has a contractual right of first refusal to seek an alternative buyer. Arkia flies roughly 2,500 Shabbat and holiday services a year, alongside domestic Israeli, European and long-haul routes including New York, Phuket and Hanoi. El Al observes Shabbat as policy, and Israir has reduced its Shabbat service.