Employees of Arkia Israel Airlines are threatening to wage a fight should the Nakash brothers, the controlling owners of the country’s second-largest carrier, move forward with talks to sell their shares to an ultra-Orthodox US entrepreneur, who insists on halting flights on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.

Brooklyn-based Hasidic real estate developer Rabbi Ezra Unger, 36, is understood to be in talks to acquire control of Arkia. The Nakash brothers have been seeking a buyer for their more-than-70-percent holding in the Israeli carrier over the past couple of months. Arkia employees own a 22.1% stake in the local airline via the TUT – Aviation & Tourism Workers Corporation Ltd.

Speaking to The Times of Israel, Avi Edri, chairman of the Aviation & Tourism Workers’ Corporation, confirmed that during a recent meeting with Arkia representatives, Unger expressed his intention to cease flight operations on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. At this stage, there is no certainty that the negotiations with Unger will mature into an agreement, as the Naskash brothers are reportedly reviewing two other offers.

“As we are not selling and will remain a shareholder and partner in Arkia, we made it unequivocally clear to the Haredi investor that we would not agree to shutting down the airline’s operations on........

© The Times of Israel