Hundreds of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men refused to sit next to women on an El Al jet from New York to Israel — and spent the 11-hour flight trying to bribe people to switch seats and loudly praying in the aisles when they refused.

“It was an 11-hour long nightmare,” one of the passengers told Israel’s ynet news Web site after the Wednesday morning flight landed.

The flight – on the eve of Rosh Hashanah – was not only delayed, but degenerated into chaos once in the air, passengers said.

“Although everyone had tickets with seat numbers that they purchased in advance, they asked us to trade seats with them, and even offered to pay money, since they cannot sit next to a woman. It was obvious that the plane won’t take off as long as they keep standing in the aisles,” said passenger Amit Ben-Natan, a passenger.

The flight crew told passengers they did not have to agree to a switch but the captain warned over the intercom that the flight would not take off with people standing in the aisles.

So the Haredi men took their seats – but then sprang to their feet once the flight was aloft.

“I ended up sitting next to a Haredi man who jumped out of his seat the moment we had finished taking off and proceeded to stand in the isle,” said Galit, another passenger.

The man was followed by dozens of others, who then proceeded to clog the aisles and begin loudly praying.

“I went to the bathroom and it was a mission impossible, the noise was endless,” Galit said.

El Al – which has a history of hiring women pilots – promised to investigate.

“The company will examine the complaints and if some passengers are found to have acted out of line the company will examine its future steps,” the airline said in a statement.

But steamed passengers were not mollified.

“This is completely inconsiderate of the non-Haredi travelers. I don’t know many airlines that would allow their passengers to act like that,” fumed Ben-Natan.

Haredim believers severely restrict the co-mingling of the sexes.

In the village of Kiryas Joel in upstate Orange County,for example, the entrance sign orders visitors to “maintain gender separation in all public areas,” and there are separate bus stops and even children’s playgrounds for males and females.