Airport transportation director: No Arab cabbies allowed

The transportation director at Ben Gurion Airport issued a directive last month ordering cab companies serving the airport to stop employing Arab drivers, enraging Israeli civil rights group ACRI (the Association for Civil Rights in Israel).

The move came after the airport reportedly received complaints from border control officers and security personnel at Ben Gurion Airport.

ACRI has demanded that Airport Authority director Yaakov Ganot act immediately to cancel the directive by Ben Gurion transportation director Shuki Shemer, since it is in violation of Israel’s Equality of Opportunity in Employment Law.

Shemer’s letter to the cab companies states: “In your companies, you may not employ minority [Arab] drivers, for all routes.” (Hebrew link)

In his letter, ACRI’s attorney Tal Hassin stressed that the request is patently illegal, not only because of the obviously discriminatory nature of the request, but because the Airport Authority is a government authority and therefore is subject to heightened public scrutiny and has a greater duty to promote equality according to law.