From the Liveblog of
Thursday, June 19, 2025
El Al to operate special ‘medical emergency flights’ on Shabbat to return Israelis home
Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel
El Al says it will operate medical emergency repatriation flights this coming Shabbat to bring back Israelis after receiving necessary approvals from Israel’s chief rabbis.
“In light of numerous cases of pikuah nefesh, or life and death medical life-saving cases that require immediate arrival of passengers to Israel, El Al has decided to operate special flights during this upcoming Shabbat,” the airline says in a statement. “These flights will be defined as pikuah nefesh or medical emergency flights.”
Following the approval by Israel’s chief rabbis, El Al plans to operate three flights on Saturday, departing for Israel from Larnaca, Cyprus, and Athens, Greece.
The passenger list includes El Al customers and those of other airlines who urgently need to arrive in Israel and were approved by a senior professor who ran leading medical centers in Israel, and who defined the cases as life and death medical cases.
Jewish law allows breaking Shabbat in matters of pikuah nefesh, a concept that is at times interpreted broadly.
The Times of Israel Community.