Editing El Al (section)

===1948–1949: Foundation ===
[[File:ChaimWeizmann plane.jpg|thumb|[[Chaim Weizmann]] disembarks from the El Al aeroplane (September 1948).]]
[[File:El Al Connie.jpg|thumb|An El Al [[Lockheed Constellation]] (1951)]]

In September 1948, Israel's first [[President of Israel|president]], [[Chaim Weizmann]], attended a conference in [[Geneva]], Switzerland. Weizmann was scheduled to fly back to Israel in an Israeli government aircraft, but due to an embargo imposed on Israel at the time, this was not possible. An Israeli [[C-54]] military transport aircraft was instead converted into a civilian plane to transport Weizmann home. The aircraft was painted with the logo of the "El Al/Israel National Aviation Company" and fitted with extra fuel tanks to enable a non-stop flight from Geneva to Israel. It departed from [[Tel Nof Airbase|Ekron Air Base]] on 28 September and returned to Israel the next day. After the flight, the aircraft was repainted and returned to military use.<ref name="answers">{{cite web | url=http://www.answers.com/topic/el-al-israel-airlines-ltd | title=El Al Company History | access-date=2007-05-27 | publisher=Answers.com Premium Partner}}</ref>

The Airline was incorporated and became Israel's national flag carrier on 15 November 1948, although it used leased aircraft until February 1949, when two unpressurized [[DC-4]]s were purchased from [[American Airlines]]. The acquisition was funded by the [[government of Israel]], the [[Jewish Agency for Israel|Jewish Agency]], and other Jewish organizations. The first plane arrived at Lod Airport (later renamed Ben Gurion) on 3 April 1949. Aryeh Pincus, a lawyer from [[South Africa]], was elected head of the company. The first international flight, from Tel Aviv to [[Paris]], with refueling in Rome, took place on 31 July 1949.<ref name="answers" /><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/13400/edition_id/259/format/html/displaystory.html | title=El Al flies to rescue throughout the world | access-date=2007-05-07 | newspaper=Jewish Bulletin |last=Kanon |first=Sharon |date=April 7, 2000}}</ref> By the end of 1949, the airline had flown passengers to [[London]] and [[Johannesburg]]. A state-run domestic airline, [[Arkia Israel Airlines|Israel Inland Airlines]], was founded in 1949 in which El Al had a 50% stake.{{when|date=June 2012}}<ref name="answers" />

From its earliest days, the operation of the airline in keeping with [[Judaism|Jewish tradition]] has been a source of friction; when the Israeli prime minister [[David Ben-Gurion]] was forming his first coalition, the religious parties would not join unless Ben-Gurion promised that El Al would serve only [[kosher]] food on its flights and would not fly on the [[Shabbat|Jewish Sabbath]].<ref name="Shabbat">{{cite web | url=http://www.jewishgates.org/history/modhis/elal.stm | title=El-Al, Israel's Airline | access-date=2007-05-27 | publisher=Gates of Jewish Heritage |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010222124207/http://www.jewishgates.org/history/modhis/elal.stm |archive-date = 2001-02-22}}</ref> El Al owes its name to [[David Remez]], the first Minister of Transport, who based the name on a Biblical verse ({{Bibleverse|Hosea|11:7|HE}}).<ref>"They call ''el al'' (upwards)."</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.elal.com/en/About-ELAL/About-ELAL/History/Pages/Decade-40.aspx| title=EL AL Israel Airlines' History/The 1940s | access-date=2020-08-11 | publisher=www.elal.com Official website of El Al }}</ref>