El Al pilot under fire for preflight message tying judicial overhaul to Holocaust

An El Al pilot caused controversy Tuesday by delivering a preflight message likening the government’s attempt to radically reshape the justice system to the events in Nazi Germany that preceded the Holocaust. The incident occurred on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, drawing angry public reactions and condemnation from the national carrier, which said the message doesn’t reflect its values and promised a thorough probe. “Things like the Holocaust are potentially carried out in a dictatorship, and we are fighting in Israel to remain a democratic country,” the captain said in Hebrew and English at the end of boarding for flight LY7 from Tel Aviv to New York. The pilot, who said he is the son of a Holocaust survivor, later apologized to those on board.<br/>