Israeli Judge Says Airlines Can't Reseat Women At Request Of Men
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men sometimes refuse to sit next to women — including on planes. Now an Israeli court says airlines cannot ask a person to change seats based on gender.
Renee Rabinowitz, a Holocaust survivor in her 80s, was flying from Newark, N.J., to Tel Aviv in 2015, when a flight attendant on Israel's El Al airline asked if she would be willing to change seats. An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man had said he did he not feel comfortable sitting next to her.
Rabinowitz agreed to move. But afterward, she said she felt "deep humiliation" — and sued the airline in Israeli court.
