It made the Seven of Hearts an international star and entertained or annoyed hundreds of thousands of travelers on El Al flights.
But after almost 10 years, the iconic safety video for the Israeli airline starring master mentalist Lior Suchard is finally being replaced.
And it’s going to take a Fantastic Four of top Israeli celebs to fill its shoes.
Beginning later this month, a new safety video is being unveiled on El Al flights featuring Fauda’s Lior Raz, Hollywood’s Gal Gadot, NBA basketball great Deni Avdija and model/actress Rotem Sela.
Suchard’s 2017 video, which opens with a sleight-of-hand card trick that draws in viewers and enables them to “guess” the right card – the seven of hearts – featured then-state-of-the-art AI-generated effects and set a new standard for airline safety videos with its innovative scenes and Suchard’s visual trickery. The revelation of the correct card at the end of the video kept viewers interested, whereas most onboard safety videos are often ignored by passengers.
“This video, which has accompanied hundreds of thousands of passengers in Israel and around the world for almost a decade, has received countless messages from people who wrote to me saying it was the best safety video they’ve ever seen,” Suchard wrote in a farewell social media post.
“When we started filming, we clearly knew we were creating something unique that would touch people’s lives for years to come. And the result? We created a smart and authentic video, which, with the help of AI… simply made people smile and enjoy it.”
El Al replaces iconic safety video with a fantastic four of Israeli celebrities
The film, originally intended to appear for two years, proved so popular that it stayed on the air, in the air, for nearly a decade.
“Today, as I say goodbye to it, I mainly think about all the places it met you: on the way to the moon, on the way to Israel, on the relocation [flight], on the big trip, on the bar or bat mitzvah [trip], on an important work meeting [trip], on a family vacation, and of course on the way home,” Suchard added.
The replacement for Suchard’s film promises to live up to its predecessor, according to El Al.
“In recent years, airline safety videos around the world have evolved into major productions. Instead of routine instructional videos, airlines are incorporating creativity, humor, and major stars in an effort to capture passengers’ attention, increase engagement with safety instructions, and encourage them to watch the video from beginning to end. El Al’s new series was created with the same approach in mind, with the goal of transforming the safety briefing into a contemporary experience for passengers, tailored to 2026,” the airline said in a press release.
The new safety film was produced in collaboration with Samsung, integrating the Samsung Galaxy series of devices and Galaxy AI technology as an integral part of the videos’ storylines and visual language.
“The new safety video series combines creativity, technology, and high-quality content,” El Al CEO Levy Halevy said. “The choice of Israeli stars who have achieved success on the international stage reflects El Al’s values – excellence, innovation, and Israeli pride – and adds another dimension of connection to Israel and to the story we bring to the world.”
Suchard’s video may have deserved its time in the stars, but some passengers thought it had outlived its expiration date.
“It was alright at first, but by the 10th time you see it, you want to scream,” frequent flyer Tania Bar said.
Although Suchard is disappearing from the little screens in front of passengers’ seats, he’s landing with pride.
“The knowledge that this creation was part of so many people’s memories is the biggest gift I could have received,” he said.
However, a representative for the Seven of Hearts said that the scorned card had gone into seclusion and was considering legal action.