Israel to Sell Off El Al Airline

JERUSALEM —  Israel’s government-owned national airline, El Al, will be sold to local and foreign investors in a three-stage plan that will take at least a year, the government said Wednesday.

The sale is part of a privatization program aimed at raising needed capital and streamlining the government’s bloated bureaucracy.

The plans to sell stock in El Al were announced by Finance Minister Shimon Peres. The government hopes that the move will help inject new vitality in an economy that faces 10% unemployment, the highest level in 20 years.

El Al spokesman Nahman Kleiman said the government has set up a steering committee to evaluate the airline’s worth. He said stocks representing 25% of the airline’s value will be sold on the Tel Aviv stock exchange and through employees’ committees in a few weeks. He said another 25% will be sold on foreign stock exchanges about a year after the first shares are sold in Israel.

“Peres has no objections to selling the rest of El Al in the third stage, but we will first see what happens in the first two stages.”