Ultra-Orthodox MKs protest Shabbat train work

The heads of the ultra-Orthodox factions in the Knesset objected Wednesday to the continued repair work taking place at Tel Aviv train stations on Friday evenings and Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath.

In a joint message, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas), Health Minister Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) and MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ), condemned what they called the public desecration of Shabbat.

“Doing repair work on Shabbat eve is extremely serious and we express our strong condemnation at [the disregard for] the honor of Shabbat,” the MKs wrote, according to a Channel 10 report.

The three acknowledged that the situation has improved since Shabbat work was halted on September 3.

“There has been a significant lessening in the work [being done] and a large portion of the workers are not Jewish,” (and thus, under Jewish religious law, permitted to work on the Sabbath,) they wrote. “Nevertheless, we protest vehemently against the conduct of the police who are acting unprofessionally when they force (the railways) to do the work on Shabbat eve, when it would have been possible to do the work during the week.”

The parliamentarians called for a meeting with Israel Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich to explain what they called the severity of breaking the religious laws surrounding Shabbat.

The message may have been intended as an insult to Alsheich, an observant Orthodox Jew.

Israel Railways announced it would carry out work in two locations overnight on Friday as part of an upgrade for a new high-speed rail line.

The latest comments follow a coalition crisis last month that saw Haredi politicians threaten to topple the coalition if Shabbat work continued on the Tel Aviv-Haifa rail route. Netanyahu ordered the work stopped over the September 2 weekend, causing massive traffic delays on Sunday as the repair work was bumped to the workday and forcing some 150,000 Israelis to find alternate transportation for their morning commutes.

A High Court of Justice petition later in the week revealed that Netanyahu did not have the legal authority to order the work stoppage, which lies under the purview of Labor Minister Haim Katz. Both Netanyahu and Katz welcomed the court’s ruling, with Katz vowing to allow any repairs deemed critical to safety to take place on Shabbat, but would push non-essential repairs to weekdays.

None of that will help commuters to and from Tel Aviv later this month, when Israel Railways plans to shutter three of the city’s four train stations for an entire week, from Monday, September 19, until 5 a.m. on Tuesday, September 27.

The Savidor, University and Hashalom stations will be closed, with only the southernmost Haganah station staying open for the duration of the period.

The changes will temporarily halt the express train between Tel Aviv and Haifa, and alter half a dozen other routes across the country, including ones connecting Beersheba, Netanya, Herzliya, Hod Hasharon and Jerusalem to the coastal metropolis.

The closures are necessary to carry out major upgrades to the lines that will facilitate high-speed trains in the future, the company said.

Israel Railways said it would provide buses to commuters that will follow the routes of the trains.