JERUSALEM POST
Israeli court: Haredi calls for women to move seats on El Al now illegal
by Jeremy Sharon
June 22, 2017

In a landmark ruling, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruled El Al and other airlines may no longer ask women to change seats on a flight due to the requests of haredi men who demand not to sit next to women. The phenomenon of haredi men insisting on not sitting next to women on air flights has developed into a familiar pattern in recent years, with such demands frequently causing problems and delays for airlines due to the refusal of such men to take their seats before take off. Although many leading authorities in Jewish law, including haredi ones, have ruled that there is no problem of inadvertently touching a woman while on some form of public transport, a trend of ever-increasing strictness in the haredi world on numerous issues has led to a refusal by haredi men to sit next to or with women. READ MORE