Israel’s Supreme Court Rejects Push For Public Transit On Shabbat
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit that called for public transportation on Shabbat.
The court on Monday decided not to hear the case, filed by several liberal groups and a left-wing Meretz party lawmaker, Tamar Zandberg, after it said that the filers had not properly requested the public transportation on Shabbat from the Transportation Ministry, a step that must be undertaken before the court could make a ruling.
The court also pointed out that no bus company had joined in the lawsuit, the Times of Israel reported.
Buses and trains do not run in Jewish-majority cities in Israel on Friday night and Saturday prior to sundown. Not having public transportation on Shabbat is part of the status quo agreement reached between the haredi Orthodox community and David Ben-Gurion before the formation of the state.
Opponents argue that the prohibition favors Orthodox preferences and unfairly blurs the boundaries between religion and state to the detriment of those who wish to travel on the Sabbath.
The Israeli government last week in a filing in response to the lawsuit said that public transportation on Shabbat is not an essential need, which would be a requirement to permit the violation of the status quo.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
