It’s official: A 27-year-old yeshiva student is now the owner of El Al

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports on Tuesday that Eli Rozenberg has taken control of El Al Airlines for a cool $75 million.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

It’s official – the 27-year-old son of successful U.S. businessman Kenny Rozenberg is now the proud owner of Israel’s national airlines.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports on Tuesday that Eli Rozenberg has taken control of El Al Airlines for a cool $75 million.

Rozenberg senior, a New York-based real estate entrepreneur who also owns hotels and nursing homes in the United States, needed the help of his son, who is a dual Israeli-U.S. citizen, to make the bid. Non-Israelis can’t own El Al, even though it was privatized in 2004, JTA reports.

“Critics of the deal argued that such a loan amounts to a gift and might mean that Kenny Rozenberg effectively controls the airline. But Eli Rozenberg pledged that his father had not been given any El Al shares as collateral for the loan. The government accepted that argument and concluded that Eli Rozenberg will be the actual owner of the airline,” JTA reports.

With no cash left to pay any bills and some $320 million in refunds owed to customers whose flights were canceled due to the pandemic, El Al was forced to stop flying in July.

In the move to acquire a controlling interest in El Al, the Rozenbergs recruited Jason Greenblatt, the former U.S. peace envoy to the Middle East and adviser to President Donald Trump, who retired from his White House job earlier this year.