Israelis hop on Tel Aviv’s new Sabbath bus service
Tel Aviv Shabbat minibus
reports in Al-Monitor:
The city of Tel Aviv launched a bus service on the evening of Friday, Nov. 22, that has become a subject of public debate because it operates on the Jewish Sabbath.
Public transportation on the weekend may appear to be a mundane matter, but in Israel, public observance of the Sabbath is a major political issue that lies at the heart of the debate over religion and state. Virtually no public transportation operates on the weekend due to religious custom, and the first minibuses that rolled out Friday evening broke a longstanding deadlock over the issue of whether municipalities can or should operate public transportation on the Sabbath.
“It’s about time,” Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Metal Lehavi, one of the politicians who spearheaded the initiative, told Al-Monitor.
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Five of Israel’s political parties — Blue and White, Yisrael Beitenu, the Joint List of Arab parties, the Democratic Union and Labor-Gesher — support liberal policies such as civil marriage and public transit on the Sabbath. On the other side of the aisle, the Likud, United Torah Judaism, Shas and the United Right oppose these measures, saying they are contrary to the state’s Jewish character.