Chairman Arnon Bar-David of the Histadrut Labor Federation sent an urgent letter to Director General Shai Babad of the Finance Ministry on Sunday, asking him to instruct professional entities in the Economic Assistance Fund for Businesses in Distress to transfer about 50 million shekels to El Al Israel Airlines because of losses attributed to the coronavirus.
Bar-David wrote that "the Corona crisis caused El Al a severe cash-flow crisis and the company has announced its intention to lay off about 1,000 employees." He emphasized that the Histadrut would oppose any dismissal that was not necessary at this time.