But while the two sides wrestle, a third option is emerging under the leadership of Reem Aminoach, an accountant and reserve army colonel. Aminoach is representing a wealthy Israeli family that wants to buy Israel’s flag carrier.

The unnamed family doesn’t expect to make money from El Al – the global airline industry is facing a long period of depressed air travel and bankruptcies.

***
Most importantly, the family is prepared to inject into El Al money equal to twice what it pays to buy it. It is not requiring that the current controlling shareholders reach a deal with the treasury over a rescue plan. Nor is it requiring the bank loans to be secured in advance to tide El Al over, or that the airline reach collective labor agreements with the pilots or the unions.

***
The family reportedly believes that there is an 80 percent chance of reaching an agreement to buy control of El Al in the next few weeks. The major risk to a deal being completed is that the carrier will be in the hands of an official receiver beforehand. In such a situation, a deal could still be completed at a lower valuation, but El Al’s creditors would likely call in existing loans, requiring the family to enter into complicated negotiations that it does not want to do.

The pilots’ local union is also looking askance at the idea of a receiver being appointed. That would enable the airline to throw open existing labor agreements in the face of the imploding global aviation market, where tens of thousands of pilots are being laid off or put on unpaid leave. They would also face pay cuts deeper than any of the current rescue plans call for.

***