Channel 10 edited the video of haredi passengers singing joyfully on last week's delayed flight, replacing the soundtrack with one of a hostile confrontation.
Channel 10 later apologized and attributed it to a “technical problem”.
Original video:
Altered video:
Many in the haredi community have been calling to boycott El Al following a flap last Shabbat between the carrier and its observant passengers.
Last Thursday, hundreds of passengers waited at New York City’s JFK airport for El Al Flight LY002, a direct service flight from New York to Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport.
The flight had been scheduled to depart at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, but was delayed after several crew members were late in arriving at the airport – reportedly due to snow storms.
During the flight, however, the captain informed passengers that the plane would be stopping in Athens to drop off any passengers who wished to ensure that they did not violate the Sabbath, while secular passengers would continue on to Israel, arriving after the beginning of the Jewish holy day.
Initial reports after the plane landed claimed that religious passengers had “rioted” on the flight after it became clear the plane would not arrive in Israel before the beginning of the Sabbath. News of the alleged violence by religious passengers went viral on social media outlets.
But passengers denied the claims, saying that at no time did any of the roughly 180 religious passengers on board the flight ever use violence or attack the flight crew, and pushed back against allegations haredi passengers had attempted to break into the cockpit.
It was discovered that the rioting incident never happened, and that responsibility for the aggravation was that of El Al alone. There was no physical violence. El Al decided to land in Athens and told passengers they would arrive before Shabbat when the delay was due to the fact that their air crew was a few hours late for the flight.
