23 JUN 2017: Two years ago Renee Rabinowitz, a retired lawyer and Holocaust survivor was on an El Al flight from Newark to Tel Aviv when an ultra-orthodox man was seated beside her in business class.  The man was whispering with a flight attendant who subsequently offered Rabinowitz a different seat. The reason given was that the man’s faith prevented him from sitting next to a woman who was not his wife.

The situation has recurred a number of times over the past few years.  In some cases flights have been delayed when ultra-orthodox men have refused to sit down before takeoff unless the women seated beside them are moved.

Rabinowitz sued Israel’s national carrier El Al for gender discrimination and was represented by Civil rights group Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC).

El Al argued in court that they oppose any form of discrimination against passengers.

On Wednesday the court ruled in favour of Rabinowitz and ordered El Al to inform staff that requests to move female passengers under such situations are discriminatory and illegal.

Israeli judge, Dana Cohen-Lekah ruled that “under absolutely no circumstances can a crew member ask a passenger to move from their designated seat because the adjacent passenger doesn’t want to sit next to them due to their gender.”

She said that the policy was a “direct transgression” of the Israeli discrimination laws relating to products and services.

Rabinowitz was awarded 6,500 shekels ($2,425 CAD) in damages.

“I’m thrilled because the judge understood the issue,” she told The New York Times.

“She realised it is not an issue of money; they awarded a very small sum. She realised it’s a matter of El Al changing its policy and that’s what they’ve been ordered to do.”

She added, “I do hope El Al takes this verdict seriously. I look forward to my future flights with El Al, and I hope I could witness a moment in which an ultra-orthodox man says ‘I won’t sit until you move this woman’ and the El Al flight attendant tells him the law prevents her from doing so.”

In a statement, El Al said the sides had reached an agreement and that the airline would respect the ruling.