Israeli flight attendant says "shalom" to UAE, bye to airline

Hedva Opatovsky’s first flight to the United Arab Emirates was her last for El Al, the Israeli flag carrier whose routes she has plied through almost a half-century of wars and peacemaking.

The airline’s longest-serving flight attendant retired on Wednesday after leading the cabin crew on a groundbreaking return trip to Abu Dhabi with Israeli envoys who hammered out a deal normalising relations with the Gulf power.