If ‘Lost’ had been based on a flight from Israel

I never got into “Lost.” Instead, I made the mistake of falling for “Heroes”—only to have my heart broken when the plot collapsed in its second season. (It was briefly resuscitated that spring, but has been among the living dead since at least the fall.) That being said, I didn’t see the return of “Lost” last night and have nothing to discuss today regarding what happened in the beginning of the end. But I can engage in some pop culture revisionism.

What if that Oceanic Airlines flight from Sydney to L.A. had instead been an El Al plane out of Tel Aviv? The JTA staff imagines how different the island would have been:

# Jack would not have been the only doctor.

# John Locke would have been named Yeshayahu Leibowitz.

# Sayid would have never made it on to the plane.

# Instead of his makeshift radio, some of the Israeli passengers would have set up a high-speed Internet link.

# Some Lubavicther would have shown up before long to open up a Chabad house.

# There would be more than just one recklessly driven, German-made vehicle on the road.

# The existence of a nuclear weapon on the island would never have been acknowledged.

# Gratuitous shots of Kate in her underwear would be replaced by quick peeks of haredi women sans sheitels.

# The island would suddenly have attracted the attention of the entire world, with the U.N. accusing the passengers of illegally occupying territory and using disproportionate force to fend off attacks by the Others.

Any mention of El Al reminds me of my experience getting hassled en route to Israel. I wrote about this for JTA during the High Holidays. I don’t think I ever shared that story, but you can read the whole thing after the jump: