Matzav7 hours agoBusinessman Ezra Ungar, who is reportedly negotiating a deal valued at approximately NIS 150 million to acquire control of Arkia Airlines, previously declared under oath in New York that he had no assets, cash or ability to obtain credit to pay a $500,000 penalty.
A source familiar with the proposed Arkia transaction told Ynet that Ungar is not expected to contribute his own money toward the acquisition. Instead, according to the source, he is serving as a conduit for funds being provided by other investors from the Chareidi community.
Ungar’s financial declaration emerged as part of a settlement with New York Attorney General Letitia James stemming from a real estate development in Williamsburg. Investigators found that Ungar sold 17 apartments in the project and collected approximately $6.7 million in deposits from purchasers without placing the money into escrow accounts as required.
James said the purchasers’ money was instead used to finance construction, leaving buyers without either their apartments or their money for years.
Under the settlement, developer Abraham Brach is expected to participate in providing financing and compensation to the affected purchasers. Ungar, meanwhile, will personally pay only $50,000 of a total $824,000 penalty after claiming that he lacked the financial means to pay the larger amount.
The agreement also bars Ungar from marketing apartments and securities in New York for six years.
The revelations come as Ungar pursues a potentially major transaction in Israel’s aviation industry. He is seeking to acquire the 72% stake in Arkia currently controlled by the Nakash brothers, with the proposed deal reportedly valued at roughly NIS 150 million.
One of the most controversial elements surrounding the prospective acquisition is Ungar’s intention to end Arkia flights on Shabbos and Yom Tov.
That proposal has generated fierce opposition from Arkia’s employees, who collectively own approximately 22% of the airline.
Arkia currently operates roughly 2,500 flights annually on Shabbos and Yom Tov, spread across approximately 70 days of operations each year.
The airline’s workers have already indicated that they intend to fight the sale if an agreement to halt flights on Shabbos and Yom Tov is made a condition of the transaction.
{Matzav.com}
Yeshiva World News4 hours agoA renewed call for Tehillim and tefillos has been issued on behalf of Binyamin ben Limor, who remains imprisoned in Iraq, as intensive efforts are underway to secure his complete release and enable him to leave for Eretz Yisroel.
Sources tell YWN that Binyamin remains imprisoned near the Iranian-Iraqi border, but those involved in the ongoing pidyon shvuyim efforts are hopeful that he could finally be released within the coming days or weeks.
The latest push comes months after a major breakthrough in his case. As YWN reported in November 2025, Binyamin’s death sentence was annulled following years of extraordinary pidyon shvuyim efforts.
Binyamin had been sentenced to death by hanging in 2020. After years of work on his behalf, a sulcha agreement was reached with the victim’s family, ultimately leading an Iraqi Kurdish judge to annul the death sentence.
Thousands of Yidden participated in the campaign to save his life, and YWN readers played a significant role in helping raise funds for the pidyon shvuyim effort.
Although the death sentence was removed, Binyamin has remained behind bars while the remaining legal process continued. The current efforts are focused on the final and critical step: securing his full freedom and allowing him to leave Iraq for Eretz Yisroel.
The tzibur is now being urged to say Tehillim and daven for Binyamin ben Limor, that the ongoing efforts succeed and that he be released from prison completely free in the coming days or weeks.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
