Israel Hayom's check with a non-governmental source reveals: The percentage of ultra-Orthodox on rescue flights is only about half, and at least in some lines it is a figure that is not unusual in any way in relation to the situation on weekdays • Senior source in the tourism industry: "Unequivocally - there are many flights to Israel Secular travelers "
Haredim at Ben Gurion Airport (those photographed have no connection to the article)
Photo:
Yehuda Peretz
Following the reports that 90% of the recipients of approvals from the Exceptions Committee who return to Israel on rescue flights are ultra-Orthodox, an inspection conducted by "Israel Today" with a senior official who is exposed to data shows that the publication has no grip on reality.
According to the source, who is important to emphasize that he is not a government official, only about half of those returning to Israel are ultra-Orthodox.
Although this is a high figure, it is very far from the published figure, and more importantly - at least in some of the lines, this figure is almost identical to the percentage of ultra-Orthodox on weekdays.
It is important to note that it is not possible to obtain exact numbers because no passenger is identified in the documents as "ultra-Orthodox" or "secular", but a senior figure in the tourism industry who is also unrelated to the government clarified: "Unequivocally - there are many secular passengers on rescue flights to Israel. "Including whole families."
As you may recall, the Exceptions Committee, which was established shortly after the closing of the skies in Israel, has received tens of thousands of inquiries in recent weeks.
Among those inquiries, there is a very high percentage of ultra-Orthodox passengers some of whom have been approved and quite a few of whom have also received a negative response.
Among the ultra-Orthodox who got stuck in New York were 16-14 year old boys who got stuck in the United States without permission to return to Israel, as we published on the "Israel Today" website.
At the same time, there are thousands of Israelis with touching reasons whose requests are not approved without explanations, which leads to quite a few criticisms, as we presented here in the political supplement last weekend.
"About half of the passengers who come to Israel from New York during this period are ultra-Orthodox, it is not much different from the numbers we are used to seeing on this line even on weekdays. The line to New York is a line where many ultra-Orthodox fly even on weekdays because there is a very large community. "90% and not even in a number close to that, it is in the range of about half of the passengers. There are a lot of secular passengers, secular families, unequivocally," reveals a source in the tourism industry who is exposed to the data.
"The members of the Exceptions Committee have no idea who wants to return to Israel, what he looks like, whether he is ultra-Orthodox, secular or anything else. It is true that they try to put pressure on us from time to time, but it is not a widespread phenomenon, it is quite spotty and certainly not in the thousands. "Once in the ultra-Orthodox sector and it happens in other sectors as well, we are not really affected by it and make decisions solely at professional discretion," a source in the Exceptions Committee told Israel Today.
In an interview with another source, a senior official in the Israeli aviation industry, he explains, "About 40% of the passengers on the rescue flights are anxious, but this is not for any reason other than the fact that many of them hold dual passports and pre-Corona lives in Israel and New York or London." .
"There are a lot of slaughterers, Chabad emissaries, rabbis and other religious officials who are currently flying to Frankfurt or New York, and from there continue on to their work around the world.
They live both in Israel and in other countries, which is why the percentage of ultra-Orthodox passengers is greater than their numbers in the population, "adds a senior industry official.
The Exceptions Committee has been headed by four different ministers, and is currently under Transport Minister Miri Regev.
The committee consists of representatives from various government ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Absorption, Transportation and other ministries.
It has often been claimed that there are "secret flights" that are not advertised, which is not true at all - every flight is advertised by the airlines.
Although rescue flights do not appear on the board at Ben Gurion Airport, they are advertised for sale on airline websites, and there are many easy and quick ways to find out which flights land at Ben Gurion Airport every day.
