Chareidi Pilot Volunteers To Fly Netanyahu To Rome After El Al Claims ‘Shortage Of Qualified Pilots’

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Zeev Tepper is a haredi resident of the city of Elad, not far from Bnei Brak. A lawyer by profession and a United Hatzalah medic by avocation, Zeev is also a qualified pilot for civilian aircraft. On Sunday, El Al announced that due to “a shortage of qualified pilots”, a flight crew could not be found to pilot the Prime Minister to Italy at the end of this week, apparently due to their political differences with Netanyahu.

Zeev was horrified at what he termed a “national embarrassment” in which an elected prime minister of Israel did not have anyone to pilot him for his upcoming meeting with  Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He therefore volunteered his services as a pilot for Netanyahu.

The official plane for the prime minister has yet to become operational and Netanyahu currently depends on El Al to travel, but requires a Boeing 777 for his entourage. El Al issued a tender for a pilot but there were no bids by pilots or flight crews.

“We are working to man this flight … in accordance with company procedures, as we have done countless times before,” El Al said in a statement. “Since its establishment, El Al has flown heads of state for important national missions and will continue to do so in the future, whenever required … The issue of manning the prime minister’s flight is yet to be resolved due to a shortage of qualified pilots in our Boeing 777 squadron, among other reasons.”

Later on Sunday evening, El Al announced that it had finally found a crew, but did not rule out using Zeev’s services as a pilot.