November 30, 2011

By Jennifer Bradshaw 

El Al Israel Airlines "Ambassadors" to speak at Colleges, Jewish community centers and Federations.

To hear the flight crew of El Al Israel Airlines tell it, the job requires more than serving refreshments and piloting a plane. To work for El Al is to represent Israel, they say.

"Part of the reason I became a flight attendant was that I studied diplomacy," said Gilad Greengold, 30, of Tel Aviv, Israel. "When you walk down the aisle with coffee you represent (the country)"

Five El Al Israel Airlines flight attendants and one El Al pilot visited Rutgers University on Monday night through an Ambassadors program co-sponsored by El Al Israel Airlines, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Stand With Us and Israel‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Rutgers Hillel hosted the program at the Student Activities Center on George Street as the first location that the program will be taking place.

Flight crews flying into New York, Los Angeles and Toronto will volunteer their layover time to visit Jewish community centers, Federations and college campuses to speak with audiences about facets of Israeli life that they say are overshadowed by media coverage of the Israeli-Arab conflict.

"I'm here because I just think that many people misunderstand the concept of Israel," said Fares Saeb, a flight attendant from Ramat-Gan, Israel.

Alom Futterman, emissary development director for the Jewish Agency for Israel, said the Ambassadors program was started by El Al Israel Airlines CEO Eliezer Shkedy, who took the office about a year ago.

Shkedy, a former Israeli Air Force Commander, stressed the idea of giving flight crews the opportunity to advocate for their country, Futterman said.

Futterman said "hundreds of applicants" from the company applied to participate, and 60 pilots and flight attendants were chosen.

Andrew Getraer, executive director of Rutgers Hillel, said Rutgers University was a prime place to host the event, as it has a reputation for "outstanding" Israel education, and has 6,400 Jewish undergraduate students. This is the second highest number of Jewish undergrads in the nation, he said.

Nearly all media coverage of Israel is based on one aspect of Israeli society, he said.

"99 percent of Israelis are not involved in conflict," he said.

To expound on that point, the crew talked about their families and life in their respective cities and villages.

They stressed that Israel is a fairly liberal society for its citizens, with democracy playing a big part in day to day life.

Greengold and flight attendant Chai Elyass, 28, of Tel Aviv, discussed living openly gay in Israel, and reported that their lifestyles are regularly accepted there.

"We have a very normal life," said Elyass, of life in Tel Aviv with his partner of five years.

El Al pilots all train in the Israeli Air Force, and several of the crew talked about their experiences serving in the Israeli armed forces, a requirement for all young people in the country over the age of 18.

Nearly all of the crew also discussed extensive schooling, with several currently in the process of earning degrees while working for El Al.

When asked how it is possible to travel daily for work and earn degrees at the same time, flight attendant Shiran Nakash, 27, of Yavne, Israel, said that it is just the Israeli way - nobody just does just one thing.

In addition to her military service, Nakash said she also worked as a fitness instructor and is working toward her degree in psychology. She described going to classes in Israel after 15 hour flights, still in her uniform and carrying her luggage.

"You just make it happen because there is no other alternative," she said.

When asked what the similarities and differences are between Israel and the U.S., Saeb said that many American values and ideals have been exported to Israel, but not all of them work.

Democracy has been very successful in the young country, while capitalism has not, he said.

Elyass said that one of the main similarities is that the country is home to people from all over the world, not unlike the U.S.

"It's an immigrant society," Greengold said.