Originally Posted by flarmip

Ah, the return flight adds a slight wrinkle. You will struggle to get anything back for that part of your rebooking expenses in the (admittedly unlikely) event the BA route has has resumed by then. If it's still suspended then it would be a question of whether BA would have been willing to rebook you onto El Al for the return flight. But certainly in respect of the outward flight I think you have a fairly watertight claim.

If you still wanted the opportunity to fly the return leg, you should ask BA to 'protect' it, but it's a moot point now anyway.

You should only accept a refund from BA if you no longer want to travel at all. Once you accept a refund, you become a former customer - it is an alternative to rebooking and thus extinguishes any rebooking/right to care rights you have.