working on Shabbat were not those you talk about , but young Israelis . And what about the taxis and sherout ? also poor ex Russians and so ? They too earn more .

not everyone has . The reason why most of those who don't own a car is money . To take a cab then ? And what about the driver ? has'n he to work ?

Line 4 and 5 , then those from my town to Tel Aviv [ lines 51 & 66 ] Where is the "great network" ? And the price , as there is no reduction for retired and youngsters .

Actually, the majority of Israelis range from Orthodox to traditional.

during weekends.

Cabfare: 40 shekels divided by 4 friends, that's 10 shekels each way. Since 6.60 shekels is a bus fare, you are saving 3.80 each way, or 7.60 for the day! Now show me that these whiners aren't smoking (1.50 for a cheap cigarette), drinking beer (20 shekels) or cappucino (15 shekels) and I might feel sorry for them.

Majority of Israelis prefer working on Saturdays and get double pay. The bus drivers (or stores, which you mention) could easily exclude unwilling workers from Shabbat work. It's a matter of scheduling work shifts, very easy to do. What you have in mind is to FORCE people NOT to work on Shabbat. You want to see them in synagogues, rather than doing something useful on Shabbat. In short, you want to take away the freedom to work. Where is the Histadruth, why don't they come out with support for Huldai? By the way, there is no such thing as "holy day" for everyone. Pick yourself a day to be holy to you, but you cannot impose it on me.

"Opposition says move would divide religious, secular residents". What are they talking about? They are already divided! On Shabbat and holidays, the religious and secular residents each do their own separate things. This is another attempt by the religious citizens to impose their way of life on the rest of the population!

Its amazing how quickly some of us Jews will destroy our own cultural traditions simply because of money. THAT is all this is about....nothing else. Money, money, money. Chase them shekels people! Its a highly sophisticated path to happiness. Always works. Yep! The mighty shekel! All bow down (G-d forbid) to the mayor who's leading the call to the genocide of Jewish culture. Congrats mr. mayor; you're a genius! ...... Idiots. Open your eyes.

Not only the Shabbat but also the Sunday in the Western world should not be or have been scarified to the altar of commerce. People should perfectly well cope with one day of quiet, entertaining themselves other than material. Those in TA that want to go to a beach, fine, take a bike, healthy and do-able due to the rather small size of the city.

I remember that it was once that way in the UK. Originally bot Saturday & Suday were rest days. Saturday eventually what started off as something only a few places do turned into pretty much a working day and the stores are all open same as any other day. Then came Sunday the day of rest for the Christians and England is a Christian country. Once again only a handful of stores opened and only for half a day. Then they started selling alcohol on Sunday again something that had once been forbiden and then the hours of the working day gradually got longer. Whilst Saturday & Sunday are supposed to be days off its reached a stage in the non stop world where they are only week END in theory and in reality its no other day to the official working week and soon Israel will be following that route. Sometimes I wonder why we waste our time pretending to be a Jewish state when so many just don't give a damn. Its not about busses its about identity and do people think identity is worth protecting, that is one thing we could learn from the arabs because who they are and their faith is very important to them.

You can Google for the two and see the difference. The Association of Cultural Jews in the U.S. actually disassociates itself from religion. But they support respect for Jewish history and for this reason "celebrate" the calendar of Jewish holidays. Personally, I don't subscribe to this calendar, not even to Shabbat as anything Cultural. Having buses going on Shabbat is so basic, so elemental. They understand it in Haifa, right?

"Nobody will be forced to work on Shabat" TO BEGIN WITH Sure it starts out nobody is forced your choice but as time goes by the policy for employers becomes of course we will not force you to work on Shabbat but I really need somebody who would be willing to. You then face the choice walk away from a job because you have been indirectly been told you must work Shabbat or do you say I don't want to work on Shabbat but I need the job so I will do something I don't want to do? Eventually it will get to a stage where Shabbat will be just another working day, its happened abroad and it can and eventually will happen here if we start down the slippery slope and then everybody is a loser because they will be working on Shabbat because thats what employers expect.

If i'm going with my wife to visit someone by bus , it costs me 6,6 for both of us [ half price , retired ] , a cab : 40 as you say . So 33,4 more expensive for one way . We are'nt smoking , and drink at home or an expresso for 6,3 . And those people who smoke and drink have'nt to spend more on taxis . Those who can't afford a car will generally not drink a beer or a capucino . Don't forget that those drivers have to work too ! I can use buses , how much i want from 9 AM till end of service for 7,3 ILS , this from my town to Tel Aviv and Rishon .

What does riding a bus to visit family and friends or going to the beach have to do with money and commerce? The article is about transportation on Shabat, not opening stores.

“You have no respect for other cultures have you?“ It seems you have no concern for your fellow Israelis, who see this as a cultural as well as a religious issue. You also seem to have no respect for other Jews (including Israelis) with different opinions.

For the record (which many of you seem to ignore):
Blue Laws in the US (preventing people from working on Sundays) were hated by Jews, especially the orthodox who owned small shops. They lost income from not being able to open on Saturday or Sunday. The laws were eventually repealed. Instead of Blue Laws, the law now states that everyone must be given one day off per week, with the exception of small, family run businesses. Jews, including the orthodox, are doing quite well with this law, thank you very much, and are proud that they fought so hard to have the Blue Laws repealed. It seems some of you still cling to the Blue Laws paradigm, not really understanding what they were, and that there are solutions for it. What it seems many of you in Israel want is to reinstitute the Blue Laws against your fellow Jews who are not orthodox and who might want to get their “relaxation” in other ways (or who get it on other days). Just look at the traffic to the beaches on summer Sundays. Yes, I enjoyed the quiet of Shabbat in Jerusalem when I lived there. But I had a car so I could get around. From what I am reading, the request is not for stores to be open on Shabbat (ie to install "Blue Laws" as they are already in the Israeli system), but to allow people to get around, visit family and friends, and relax the way they want to relax, without a dictat.

On Shabbat the cab fares use special rates, much more than normal 20 something shekels just for stepping inside the cab, without actually driving. So you your 40 shekel number takes you nowhere far, and most people don't travel in groups of 4. You tried to make a point, but it came out poorly because you lack integrity yourself. Your notion that people with limited means jet around in cabs is very sweet.. Not. If you are not driving on Shabbat maybe you should donate your car to those people for free who cannot afford your plan since you are such a tzadik?

And it has nothing to do with religion. I live on a main thoroughfare in Tel Aviv and Shabbat is the ONLY day of the week that the air is clean and it is quiet enough to hear the birds singing, not to mention the zero pollution given off by non-running buses one day a week which gives the air we breath time to recover from its normal stinky self. Why not just add sheruit monitim for those who HAVE to be somewhere on Shabbat?

I can see why some people would be offended by having their tax dollars used to desecrate Shabbat. So why not let a 100% private operator do the job. Let them charge what they want and use their own equipment.

My favorite day of the year in Israel was Yom Kippur with its clean air and empty roads to bike upon. But my preferences do not give me the right to dictate to others how to live, or deprive them of services. Remember what citizenship means: you serve the State and the State serves you, by mutual agreement and by law. Citizenship is a contract. The state HAS to give you the bus service, whether you use it or not. If the state fails its citizens, citizens are justified to take the law into their own hands. So, go ahead, refuse to pay taxes until the buses start running.

Dear Mea, I dissagree with you. I do live in Tel Aviv and a taxi from my home to the port costs 60-70 NIS. To the Tel Aviv museum it's even more. Take it both directions - do you still think it is not a big expense? Being a single mom, how many times a month I can afford this? There should be busses every day. Who doesn't want to use them on a particular day, it's his decision.

"Yes to Buses - No to cars" would allow all Israelis (secular and Religious) to move around on Shabbat, while keeping a special shabbat atmosphere in the streets of Israel. Introducing the Shabbat Bus/Trains (Same concpet as the Shabbat elevator) 1. In order to allow both secular and religious people to move around easier on Shabbat, we would introduce "Shabbat Buses/Trains. 1a. All drivers and operators on shabbat would be non-Jewish. 1b. special shabbat passes would be sold before shabbat so that no one would have to pay or use the electric card machine and violate shabbat. 2. No cars. In order to keep a special quiet in the streets of Israel on shabbat and dramatically lower air pollution (does not the air also deserve shabbat?) private cars and taxis would be banned on Shabbat. 2a. Since all cars would be banned on shabbat, car insurance for all citizens would be lowered by 1/7th plus additional percentages for all the chagim. This proposal is better for Halchically, ecologically and socially.

and in so doing separate state and religion ? I agree. Why should my tax shekels go to supporting others to maintain their private beliefs.

Private bus companies have to make a profit. This would mean that routes with hi frequency will get buses and other routes would not. It's the same today with the sheruts. There are no sheruts at all from/to Beersheva on weekends because there are just to few to travel I guess. A public service would still have to provide a few buses even if only 1 person is riding it in the worst case.

of people;those who can count and those who can not count. Seriously,there is nothing like going out Shabat,for a lovely walk in the nature ,with the better half,to get to know each other really well. Moreover,it is for free.

Its 2012 and Disneyland is in America.

... in order to forbid cars at all the public transportation system would need to be by a big magnitude better then today on normal weekdays. And by that I mean having a better ticket system, better connections for buses and trains, more trains and way more destinations reachable by bus & train. How many buses or trains have stops at hiking sites or national parks?