INDEX / DIRECTORY / ARKIA

Arkia🇮🇱

Airlines 33 CITED SOURCES UPDATED 2026-09-30 METHOD V6.5
BDS-1000 Score 739 /1000 B Tier B - Severe
Military ↗ 1.40 Digital ↗ 0.00 Economic ↗ 8.30 Political ↗ 7.07
OWNERSHIP TREE 7 brands and group businesses View all

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Key Findings

  • Economic: Arkia is an Israeli operating airline with ongoing Israeli airport activity, state/customer ticket engagements, and controlling Nakash/Jordache ownership reported at roughly 70%; its wider controlling group also has Israeli hospitality, real-estate and Eilat Port-related interests.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
  • Political: Arkia added emergency flights after 7 October 2023 and later reporting documented the return of soldiers and citizens called for reserve duty, although the reviewed evidence does not establish that flights were donated or purchased wholesale by the military.7, 8
  • Military: Historical reporting described Arkia route assets serving Israel Air Force bases and Uvda, while the current record also documents civilian-aircraft defensive protection; neither establishes Arkia as a weapons manufacturer or defense supplier.9, 10, 11
  • Not found: No public evidence identified in the reviewed sources that Arkia supplies weapons, offensive cyber, surveillance technology, military cloud services, or operates a documented settlement branch or supplier facility.1, 12, 13, 14

Target Profile

FieldDetail
Company NameArkia Israeli Airlines Ltd.
JurisdictionNo public evidence identified in the audits specifying the company’s country/state of incorporation.
HeadquartersNo public evidence identified in the audits specifying a headquarters location.
SectorCommercial passenger aviation, tourism and airline services.
OwnershipPrivately controlled. Current reporting attributes roughly 70% ownership to Nakash/Jordache interests and approximately 22% to employees.2, 3, 4
Key Executives / GovernanceAvi Nakash is identified as a controlling owner and public spokesman on Arkia’s wartime operations; Ralph/Raphael Nakash is identified as a controlling brother. Joseph, Avi and Ralph Nakash are officers of the separate Nakash Family Foundation.15, 16, 17
Israeli-Nexus SummaryArkia is an Israeli airline whose operations, ownership, airport infrastructure use, state-facing commercial relationships and wartime repatriation activity establish substantial Israeli economic and logistical integration.1, 12, 2, 7, 5, 6

Key Facts:

Executive Summary

Arkia is a civilian Israeli airline operating through Israeli aviation infrastructure, including Ben Gurion and Ramon-related operations reflected in regulator and industry listings.1, 12 The evidence record establishes a substantial Israeli economic nexus: Arkia’s ownership is concentrated in Nakash/Jordache interests; it has documented state/customer ticket engagements; and its controlling group has broader Israeli interests in hospitality, real estate and Eilat Port-related businesses.2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Arkia also received owner capital alongside state-guaranteed financing during the pandemic.18

The strongest military and political nexus is logistical rather than weapons production. Historical acquisition reporting described Arkia’s domestic route assets as including routes to Israel Air Force bases and civilian transfers to Uvda Air Force Base, but the reviewed material does not establish that those routes remain active.9 After 7 October 2023, Arkia added emergency flights for Israelis seeking to return to Israel; later reporting described rescue flights returning soldiers and citizens called for reserve duty.7, 8 The reviewed sources do not establish that every reservist seat was paid for by the Ministry of Defense, that the flights were donated, or that Arkia had a military procurement contract for the activity.7, 8

Arkia aircraft have been associated with Israeli state-backed civil-aircraft missile-protection programmes involving Israeli defense suppliers. The evidence concerns defensive equipment installed for protection of civilian aircraft after the 2002 Mombasa attack, not Arkia manufacturing, exporting or supplying weapons systems to a military end-user.10, 11 Similarly, the 2021 planned transport of employees from Israeli defense companies to the IDEX exhibition establishes a defense-industry passenger-transport relationship, not weapons supply or exhibition sponsorship by Arkia.19

The evidence does not support allegations that Arkia is a weapons manufacturer, defense prime, supplier of offensive cyber or surveillance products, Project Nimbus participant, military-cloud provider, or operator of a documented settlement branch, settlement-based supplier facility or settlement-specific profit stream.1, 12, 13, 14 A 2022 pilot flight carrying West Bank Palestinian civilians from Ramon Airport to Cyprus was state-authorized and does not establish a settlement operation.20, 21 These limits are material to the assessment.

Under the fixed human-vetted BDS-1000 V6.5 scoring, Arkia receives a BRS of 739, placing it in Tier B (Severe Complicity). The result is driven principally by the verified economic nexus and political/logistical wartime role, while the Digital domain is scored zero because the audit did not substantiate a qualifying digital-security nexus.

Timeline of Relevant Events

DateEvent
2005/2006Historical reporting records the Nakash brothers’ acquisition of Arkia and describes domestic route assets that included routes to Israel Air Force bases and civilian transfers to Uvda Air Force Base; continued operation of those routes is not established.9
2017Arkia entered documented CFM/GE/Safran engine procurement and support relationships for civilian aircraft operations.22, 23
2018Ralph/Raphael Nakash attended a Duvdevan Foundation fundraiser reported to have raised more than $250,000 for the IDF Duvdevan unit; the report does not identify any personal donation amount by Nakash.16
2020The Nakash brothers were reported to inject NIS 25 million into Arkia while the airline pursued NIS 130 million in bank loans backed by a 75% state guarantee.18
2021Globes reported planned Arkia flights carrying employees from roughly 40 Israeli defense companies to the IDEX exhibition in the UAE; the reported Ministry of Defense permit-related exemption request was denied.19
February 2022Arkia announced paid rescue flights from Ukraine for Israelis amid invasion fears, in the context of Foreign Ministry warnings.24
August 2022Arkia operated a pilot flight carrying West Bank Palestinian civilians from Ramon Airport to Cyprus under a special access framework.20, 21
October 2023Arkia added emergency flights for Israelis returning after the Hamas attack and outbreak of war; reporting also records repatriation activity involving reservists and other Israelis.7, 8
August 2024Avi Nakash publicly defended Arkia’s wartime pricing and operations, emphasizing that Israeli airlines continued operating while foreign carriers withdrew.15
2025–2027The Israel Airports Authority records an engagement with Arkia for domestic employee flights.6
2026The Israel Tax Authority listed Arkia as a sole supplier for airline tickets, with a stated NIS 188,000 value.5

Corporate Overview

Arkia is publicly identified as an Israeli airline and an IATA-listed carrier, with documented civilian aviation operations and maintenance-approval relationships.1, 12, 25 Its audited business profile is commercial aviation and tourism rather than defense manufacturing, security technology or platform services.1, 12, 13, 14

The reviewed evidence describes Arkia as privately controlled, with Nakash/Jordache interests holding roughly 70% and employees about 22%.2, 3, 4 Current reporting separately links the wider Nakash/Jordache group to Israeli hospitality, real estate and Eilat Port-related interests. These broader group holdings demonstrate material Israeli economic integration, but they should not be treated as Arkia subsidiaries absent entity-specific evidence.3, 4, 15

Arkia has documented supplier and operational relationships with civilian aviation and enterprise vendors, including CFM/GE/Safran for engines and support, A-ICE for departure-control and weight-and-balance systems, and historical Priority ERP use.13, 14, 22, 23 The audits do not establish a named Arkia subsidiary operating in an Israeli settlement, a settlement-based Arkia facility, or a franchise relationship involving settlement commerce.20, 21

Domain Summaries

Military: Military

Mechanism of Involvement

The military-domain record is centered on transport and historical state/military logistical integration. A 2005 report on the Nakash acquisition described Arkia’s route assets as including service to Israel Air Force bases and civilian transfers to Uvda Air Force Base. This is historical transport evidence; the record does not establish that these routes continue in 2026.9

Arkia participated in emergency and repatriation flying after 7 October 2023, when Israeli carriers added flights as foreign airlines suspended operations. Reporting establishes that reservists and citizens called for reserve duty were among those returned to Israel.7, 8 In 2021, Arkia was also reported as planning flights for employees of approximately 40 Israeli defense companies travelling to IDEX in the UAE. That episode establishes a defense-industry passenger transport relationship, not arms supply.19

Arkia civilian aircraft were included in state-backed civil-aircraft protection programmes involving Israeli defense suppliers, including reporting on Flight Guard and later C-MUSIC/SkyShield systems. The documented function was defensive protection of civilian passenger aircraft, not manufacture, export or supply of weapons by Arkia.10, 11

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

Arkia is a civilian airline, not a documented weapons manufacturer or defense prime.1, 12 No public evidence identified in the reviewed sources shows Arkia manufacturing or supplying munitions, missiles, weapons components, targeting systems, strategic platforms or military engineering equipment.1, 12

The 2023 evidence establishes civilian-airline transport that included reservists; it does not establish a Ministry of Defense purchase for every seat, a donated flight programme, or a continuing military contract.7, 8 Likewise, anti-missile systems were supplied to protect Arkia aircraft in a civilian context; the evidence does not show Arkia supplying those systems to military end-users.10, 11 The historical IAF/Uvda route evidence cannot be assumed to describe current operations.9

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Digital: Digital

Mechanism of Involvement

Arkia’s documented technology stack concerns ordinary airline and enterprise operations. Historical evidence identifies A-ICE departure-control, weight-and-balance and infrastructure products. The cited departure-control system handles functions such as check-in, boarding, baggage, load control, IATA messaging and passenger API data through service-provider integrations.13, 26

Arkia also historically selected Priority ERP for financial processes, vendor management and business-intelligence data. Priority identifies its headquarters in Israel and describes cloud-based business-management products, but the Arkia-specific evidence is historical and does not disclose Arkia’s current hosting region, tenancy model or data-residency configuration.14, 27, 28

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

No public evidence identified in the reviewed sources shows Arkia deploying Israeli-origin facial recognition, gait analysis, predictive-policing, employee-surveillance, offensive cyber, spyware, intelligence analytics, military cloud or autonomous targeting technology.13, 14 A-DCS support for passport/API data reflects a normal airline departure-control function; the evidence does not identify biometric matching, Israeli intelligence access or a surveillance end-user.26

No public evidence identified shows Arkia operating an Israeli data centre, participating in Project Nimbus, providing sovereign-cloud services to Israeli state or military bodies, or maintaining a standalone cyber/AI research centre.13, 14, 27, 28 Vendor capability alone is not evidence that Arkia deployed a given capability.

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Economic: Economic

Mechanism of Involvement

Arkia’s strongest documented nexus is economic. It is an Israeli airline operating through Israeli aviation infrastructure, with IATA and Israel Airports Authority listings and a civilian maintenance-service footprint.1, 12, 25 Its operations encompass Israeli airport activity, domestic and international passenger services, employees, aviation procurement and civilian supplier relationships.1, 12, 13, 22, 23

Ownership is concentrated in the Nakash/Jordache group, which current reporting places at roughly 70%, while employees hold around 22%.2, 3, 4 The controlling group’s reported holdings include Arkia, hotels, real estate and Eilat Port-related interests, establishing wider Israeli economic integration beyond the airline itself.3, 4, 15

Arkia has identified state-facing commercial relationships: the Israel Tax Authority listed it as a sole supplier for airline tickets in 2026, and the Israel Airports Authority records a 2025–2027 domestic employee-flight engagement.5, 6 During the pandemic, owners injected NIS 25 million while Arkia pursued bank loans carrying a 75% state guarantee.18 These facts establish commercial and financing links within the Israeli economy, not state ownership.2, 18

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

Arkia’s Israeli economic activity should not be conflated with documented settlement activity. No public evidence identified in the reviewed source set shows Arkia sourcing from an identified West Bank settlement manufacturer, operating a settlement-based supplier facility, maintaining a settlement branch, or deriving a documented settlement-specific profit stream.20, 21

The audits do not establish Arkia’s current consolidated revenue, taxable profit, taxes paid, owner dividend flows or geographic allocation of profits. These amounts should not be inferred from ticket volumes, state-guarantee limits, group asset reporting or procurement values.2, 5, 6, 18 The 2022 Ramon pilot flight carrying West Bank Palestinian civilians does not establish a commercial Arkia facility in a settlement.20, 21

Named Entities and Evidence Map

Political: Political

Mechanism of Involvement

Arkia’s political-domain record rests on crisis mobilization, public owner statements, state-facing relationships and principal-level association rather than documented lobbying or party financing. In October 2023, Arkia announced added emergency flights for Israelis seeking to return after the Hamas attack and outbreak of war; later reporting described rescue flights that returned soldiers and citizens called for reserve duty.7, 8

In August 2024, controlling owner Avi Nakash publicly defended Arkia’s wartime pricing and operations and emphasized that Israeli airlines remained active while foreign carriers withdrew.15 This is a documented public statement about Arkia’s wartime role, but it is not evidence of a company position on particular military operations.15

At principal level, Ralph/Raphael Nakash attended a 2018 Duvdevan Foundation fundraiser reported to have raised more than $250,000 for the IDF Duvdevan unit. The evidence establishes attendance and the event’s aggregate proceeds, not Nakash’s individual contribution.16 The separate Nakash Family Foundation lists Joseph, Avi and Ralph Nakash as officers, but the reviewed filing summary does not establish a Duvdevan grant by the foundation.17

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

Arkia’s emergency flights are documented as logistical mobilization, not as a proven donation or military-financing programme. The record does not establish that flights were free, donated by Arkia, or purchased wholesale by the military.7, 8 State ticket and employee-flight engagements are paid customer relationships; they do not alone demonstrate lobbying, political advocacy or support for anti-BDS legislation.5, 6

No public evidence identified in the reviewed sources shows Arkia corporate PAC or lobbying expenditure concerning anti-BDS legislation or settlement policy, a state golden share, a corporate charter making political advocacy its primary purpose, an anti-BDS board role, settlement sponsorship, or a documented personal JNF/FIDF donation by the controlling brothers.1, 12, 2, 16, 17 Arkia’s documented primary activity remains commercial aviation and tourism.1, 12

Named Entities and Evidence Map

BDS-1000 Score

Method: V6.5.

DomainIMPV-Domain Score
Military3.502.809.001.40
Digital0.000.000.000.00
Economic8.307.009.008.30
Political9.005.509.007.07

V_MAX is driven by the documented economic nexus: Arkia’s Israeli operating footprint, private controlling ownership, state/customer engagements and wider controlling-group economic integration.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 The Political score reflects verified wartime logistical activity and principal-level conduct, while the Military score is limited to transport/logistical evidence and defensive civil-aircraft protection rather than weapons supply.7, 8, 16, 9, 10, 11

The V6.5 assessment is scale-free and evidence-only: it evaluates documented activity type, scale and directness rather than treating nationality, vendor capability, allegation volume or unsupported inference as proof. The scores are fixed human-vetted final scores.

Methodology Note

Footnotes

  1. https://www.iaa.gov.il/en/companies/airline-companies/arkia-israeli-airlines/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17

  2. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-902832 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13

  3. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-nakash-brothers-set-to-dissolve-israel-partnership-1001505805 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  4. https://www.calcalist.co.il/market/article/h18qclr8gx ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  5. https://mr.gov.il/ilgstorefront/he/p/4000609757 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  6. https://www.iaa.gov.il/en/tenders-and-contracts/tenders-collections/exemption-notifications/log_ptor_111_2025/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  7. https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/article-849364 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12

  8. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-765217 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  9. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-934562 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  10. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-727497 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  11. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-passenger-aircraft-protection-system-successfully-tested-1000920450 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  12. https://www.iata.org/en/about/members/airline-list/arkia-israeli-airlines-/286/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14

  13. https://www.a-ice.aero/case-study-arkia-airlines-aviation-solutions/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  14. https://www.topprioritysystems.com/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  15. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/qafraji6w ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  16. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/american-donors-open-their-pockets-for-duvdevan-unit-562399 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  17. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133030267 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  18. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-nakash-brothers-to-inject-nis-25m-into-arkia-1001337892 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  19. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-1001360723 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  20. https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-715297 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  21. https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2022/08/22/west-bank-palestinians-permitted-to-fly-out-of-israel-under-new-scheme/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  22. https://www.geaerospace.com/news/press-releases/joint-ventures/arkia-places-112-million-leap-1a-order ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  23. https://www.safran-group.com/pressroom/arkia-signs-200-million-leap-1a-support-agreement-2017-06-21 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  24. https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-Israeli-airlines-put-on-extra-flights-from-Ukraine-1001402007 ↩

  25. https://www.nayak.aero/content/uploads/2025/06/Arkia-AMO-Nayak-CAAI-APPROVED-24.10.23.pdf ↩ ↩2

  26. https://www.a-ice.aero/a-dcs-departure-control-system/ ↩ ↩2

  27. https://www.priority-software.com/contact-us/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  28. https://www.priority-software.com/about-priority/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  29. https://iz.cargoclaims.aero/cms?path=privacy ↩