Meretz petitions court over halt to rail work on Shabbat

The head of the left-wing Meretz party Zehava Galon petitioned the High Court over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to halt infrastructure work on several of Israel’s railway stations on Shabbat.

The petition names Netanyahu, Welfare and Social Services Minister Haim Katz, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz and Israel Railways.

“The court must put an end to the prime minster’s unbridled frenzy on the backs of thousands of passengers,” Galon said Saturday.

Netanyahu instructed Israel Railways on Friday to halt 17 out of 20 projects that had been scheduled to take place over the weekend, after ultra-Orthodox parties threatened to topple the coalition if work continued on the Sabbath. Work on the 17 projects would instead take place on Saturday night — after Shabbat has ended — and on Sunday, leading to the cancellation of services at several railway stations.

The canceled lines will affect some 70,000 travelers, including thousands of soldiers on mandatory military service who go home for the weekends. Suspending the infrastructure projects has also resulted in a delay in completing the high-speed train line between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, which was set to be completed in 2018 but is already behind schedule.

Galon warned Friday that the decision to suspend the work on Shabbat could result in legal action. Taking part in a protest by left-wing MKs and activists opposed to the decision to halt the weekend work, Galon said: “If infrastructure work does not continue as planned, Meretz will file a class action suing for hundreds of millions of shekels.”

The protest at the Savidor train station on Arlozorov Street, a public transportation hub in the heart of Tel Aviv, included Galon, Meretz faction leader Ilan Gilon, and party MKs Tamar Zandberg and Michal Rozin. Similar protests were also scheduled to take place at Arlozorov Street and at Haifa’s Lev Hamifratz station on Saturday night, in an event titled “We demand trains 24/7.” The event, organized by a group called Free Israel, is demanding an end to what it says is religious coercion in Israel.

Members of the opposition also said Saturday that they have collected the 25 MKs’ signatures needed to force a special Knesset committee session to discuss the decision to terminate services at several railway stations after Shabbat, in order to allow for construction work that should have taken place on Friday and Saturday, when trains do not run.

The three projects that were allowed to continue despite ultra-Orthodox objections were those whose delay would, according to the police, constitute a genuine risk to human life due to traffic complications. But, the Ynet news website said the ultra-Orthodox parties rejected the police argument, and claimed that alternative solutions should be found.

According to Jewish law, the religious rules of conduct for Shabbat, such as the prohibition to work or to operate electrical machinery and engines, can be violated when a human life is at risk. Moshe Dagan, secretary-general of the Chief Rabbinate, however, said the weekend work is not something that would save human lives and as such would not be allowed.