For the first time since 1982, the Israeli airline El Al will operate a flight on Saturday, the Jewish Shabbat, to return reservists called up for military service to the country, RBC reports, citing The Times of Israel.
The reservists will be flown to Israel from New York and Bangkok on two Boeing 787 aircraft. The costs of the flights will be covered by large financial institutions from the United States, as well as the airline itself.
The company said the decision to operate the flights on Saturday received halachic approval because the rescue flights pertain to the principle of pikuach nefesh, which places the value of human life above almost any other religious rule in Judaism. El Al called the presence of reservists in Israel during the war with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas “vital.”
According to The Times of Israel, Israel has called up about 360,000 reservists into the army since the start of the war on October 7 – this is the largest mobilization since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
Since the beginning of the escalation of the conflict, the Israeli Air Force has transferred hundreds of military personnel who were stationed abroad in European countries to the country. According to The Times of Israel, the flights were carried out on C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft.
Source: Rosbalt
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