Image by twitter

By Ari Feldman June 14, 2017

El Al’s first female ultra-Orthodox pilot was at the helm on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s flight this morning to Greece for a tristate summit with leaders of Greece and Cyprus. She snapped several pictures with the Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu.

Image by twitter

Nechama Spiegel Novak, who was first officer on this morning’s flight, was the first Haredi woman inducted into El Al’s prestigious flight training program. A life-long passion for aviation led her to attend flight school in the U.S., to gain the flight hours she might have gained if she had served in the Israeli Air Force. She began the flight training in 2015.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

At the time of her induction, an El Al spokesperson described her as “an impressive woman with special abilities and a high level of personal qualities,” according to ch10.co.il.

“Being a pilot has always been a dream of mine,” she said at the time. “My husband is very supportive, and he is helping realize this dream.”

The first Haredi man to join the Israeli Air Force was conscripted in 2010. When Israel was founded, the government exempted Haredi Jews from serving in the military; now the government is trying to conscript them but many resist service.

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount