Transportation Minister Miri Regev Accuses El Al of Intimidation Over Low-Cost Airline Plans

Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev publicly accused El Al airline of orchestrating a campaign against her within the Likud party primaries due to her efforts to introduce low-cost airlines to Israel. Speaking on 103fm radio on Monday, Regev claimed El Al distributed a list to its party members urging them not to support her, describing this as part of "blackmail and threats" aimed at influencing her policy decisions. She firmly stated she would not yield to pressure and intends to bring in low-cost carriers like Wizz Air to break El Al's monopoly and reduce flight prices for Israeli citizens.

Regev criticized El Al’s management and its affiliated pressure groups, emphasizing that they should not dictate government policy. She expressed confidence that most Likud members understand her actions benefit the public and will support her accordingly. Additionally, Regev attacked political rivals, including former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, questioning his leadership capabilities and criticizing his political alliances. She also rebuked former Likud members Yuli Edelstein and Gilad Erdan for leaving the party and founding new factions, warning that such moves threaten right-wing governance and urging voters not to waste votes on parties unlikely to pass the electoral threshold.

During the interview, Regev defended her use of artificial intelligence in a social media campaign that digitally altered a photo of Prime Minister Netanyahu, refusing to apologize and highlighting her close relationship with him. She concluded by sharing an emotional reflection on her daughter Michal’s recent engagement and survival of the October 7 Nova party massacre, recounting how her daughter’s fiancé, a survivor who walked eight hours after the attack, helped save her life.

Summary: Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev accused El Al of pressuring Likud members against her over her push to introduce low-cost airlines, vowed to continue her efforts, criticized political rivals, defended AI use in campaigns, and emotionally recounted her daughter’s survival of the October 7 massacre.

Points: - Miri Regev accuses El Al of blackmailing Likud members to oppose her in primaries. - She insists on introducing low-cost airlines like Wizz Air to break El Al’s monopoly. - Regev criticizes political rivals including Gadi Eisenkot and warns against vote splitting. - She defends using AI in a campaign photo of Netanyahu without apology. - Regev shares emotional account of her daughter’s survival of the October 7 Nova massacre.

Topic: politics israel_relevant: true entities: {"people":["Miri Regev","Gadi Eisenkot","Yuli Edelstein","Gilad Erdan","Michal Regev","Lotan Avir"],"organizations":["El Al","Likud","Wizz Air","IDF"],"places":["Israel","Nova"]}