From the Liveblog of
Monday, April 20, 2026
Ex-PM Bennett backs public transport on Shabbat, civil marriage, sparking Haredi backlash
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett comes out in favor of public transportation on Shabbat and civil marriage, prompting backlash from the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties.
Speaking with Army Radio, Bennett says that “cities must be allowed to choose if they want public transportation on Shabbat” and that “every person in Israel should be able to realize their love in this country and not travel abroad” in order to get married outside of the rabbinate, which holds a monopoly on marriage and divorce.
“My compass in this matter is common sense and fairness,” Bennett says, signaling a change for the religious-Zionist politician.
“Those ready to trade away the country’s Jewish identity, our sacred Shabbat and marriage according to the laws of Moses and Israel, for political gain, will inevitably do the same with the Land of Israel and the communities in Judea and Samaria,” says Shas.
“I wouldn’t be impressed by Bennett’s promises regarding civil marriage and Sabbath desecration,” says United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf.
“He also promised not to sit in a coalition with Mansour Abbas and [pledged] that he would not allow Lapid to be prime minister. Even on the Left, they know he is a deceiver and a vote thief.”
Bennett’s statement is welcomed by The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan, who says that he has “come a long way” from his days as leader of the right-wing Jewish Home party.
“It’s heartening to see that even in politics there are positive surprises, and that even on the right they understand that only a strong liberal Israel will prevail,” Golan says, adding that he hopes Bennett will continue to shift his views on the West Bank as well.
Other members of the so-called change bloc opposing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have also called for overhauling the current religious status quo. Last month, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that, if elected, the opposition will pass bills cutting off draft evaders from all government assistance; allowing mayors to “fire city rabbis, or to hire Reform and Conservative rabbis”; instituting civil marriage; and establishing “public transportation on Shabbat in secular majority localities.”
Last September, Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party released a proposed “document of principles and guidelines” containing a raft of social, security and economic measures intended to guide the next government, which called to diminish the power of the rabbinate in the field of religion by limiting Israel to only one chief rabbi, instituting civil marriage and allowing public transportation on Shabbat.
The proposal also called to abolish the government-funded local religious councils which provide state religious services, such as kosher supervision and mikvahs, to communities at the city and regional council levels.
According to Channel 12, Bennett is currently in contact with Lapid and Yashar! chief Gadi Eisenkot to discuss the potential formation of a new joint party called “New Israel.”
The Times of Israel Community.