The CHEAPEST way to fly premium class to Israel is to call up a travel agent and ask him to contact a consolidator for discounted first/business class travel on DL, AC, or CO. LY does not generally offer their first-class product (not even for sale) to nonmembers of their FF program.

An international upgrade of this proportion would be highly unlikely to be found. DL used to offer a daily flight from JFK. In that case one of their SWUs/PMUs would have worked, but they no longer offer those.

It's not allowed by the airlines to trade or buy upgrades from anyone, unfortunately. Given this, the best way to go first or business class to Israel for a non-frequent flyer like yourself is to pay for it.

But don't fret. If you travel really often, pay attention to mileage promos, and get a good affinity card, you could earn that free FC trip to Israel in less than a year. I did. GOOD LUCK!