The mother of a London yeshivah student is still trying to claim compensation from an Israeli airline after her son was refused permission by a security officer from boarding a flight to Tel Aviv in the summer.

Aaron Friedman, 17, was stopped from taking an Israir flight from Stansted in June because, according to his mother, the security officer said he did not look like his passport photo. He was forced to buy another ticket to travel to Israel with El Al four days later.

The family's solicitor has written to Israir to point out that other passengers on the Israir flight had vouched for Mr Friedman's identity; that he had travelled back from Israel a month before using the same passport, and that he had a railcard with a recent photo.

But Israir wrote to Mrs Friedman to disclaim responsibility, saying that "for any clarification... you will have to contact the security authorities".

Israir failed to respond to repeated requests from the JC for comment.

Mrs Friedman said: "My son was travelling on a legitimate British passport and despite providing evidence that he was who he was, the security officer... refused to allow him to fly. It makes me wonder whether there was some other motive such as overbooking... or a dislike of Orthodox Jews."