Jonathan Danilowitz (; 13 January 1945 – 12 August 2022) was an LGBT activist and former chairman of The Aguda–Israel’s LGBT Task Force. In 2020, he was awarded Tel Aviv’s Yakir Ha’ir in recognition of his struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. He was born and raised in Krugersdorp, South Africa, and immigrated to Israel in 1971. He worked as a senior in-flight service manager for

El Al Israel Airlines El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (, he, אל על נתיבי אויר לישראל בע״מ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ar, إل-عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural ...

, based in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. He was the plaintiff in one of the most important lawsuits establishing equal rights for LGBT people in Israel. In 1989, he sued the airline in Tel Aviv Regional Labor Court after it refused to give to his longtime

same-sex partner A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries w ...

an airline ticket, stating common-law spouses had to be of the opposite sex. It was one of the Israel's most publicized civil rights cases. In 1992, the National Labor Court ruled against El Al, determining the national airline’s discrimination against Danilowitz and his partner was illegal. The airline appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. In 1995, the court concurred with the lower court, ruling the

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

illegal and requiring the airline to grant partner benefits. The case is featured in the

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

of the Supreme Court in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

as one of Israel’s most important. Danilowitz was 77 when he died on 12 August 2022 from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

References

1945 births 2022 deaths Israeli gay men Flight attendants El Al Israeli LGBT rights activists {{LGBT-activist-stub

See also

References