PM intervenes in Shabbat-construction brouhaha
Haredi ministers and MKs opposed to construction and repairs of the national train system claim that work on Shabbat is a violation of the status quo and threaten to quit the coalition, effectively bringing down the government; PM Netanyahu is forced to intervene, and a result the work will continue.
A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said, "After the ultra-Orthodox factions discovered that the Ministry of Transportation was going forward with infrastructure work on the train system, the coalition came to the brink of collapse. The Prime Minister intervened to solve the dispute and held discussions all night. After taking all points into consideration, it was decided that all repairs involving safety of passengers will be conducted as scheduled, including the Ayalon Highway. However, all work on tracks from Ben Gurion Airport to Modi'in and Beit Yehoshua to Atlit, will be postponed and not take place this Saturday."
The statement went on to mention that Netanyahu also decided to start a committee whose job will be "to strengthen the coordination between the Ministry of Transportation and the religious faction. The prime minister's chief of staff will be head of the committee, which will also include the director general of the Ministry of Transportation, the police commissioner, and religious faction ministers or their representatives."
After his behavior was described as "evasive" by Deri, Litzman and Gafni, Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz (Likud) explained to the heads of the Haredsi parties that legal procedure forbade him from interfering with train repair and construction on Sabbath.
Katz went on to explain that the only legal method of preventing work on the Sabbath is the cancelling of permits by the minister of labor, Haim Katz (Likud), which will require professional explanations and other legal considerations.
The repairs will begin at 4:00pm and continue until 7:30pm. The work will be conducted within a passenger terminal at the Hashalom train station in Tel Aviv. Traffic on the Ayalon Highway heading south will be diverted via an access road interchange, while traffic heading north will be blocked on Hashalom Bridge and Ammunition Hill Street in both directions.
The aim of the project is the construction of a terminal that will allow the entry and exit of passengers directly to the Hashalom Bridge as well as a parking structure for bikes and motorcycles near the bridge.
Deri, Litzman, and Gafni told Katz, "It is known that what doesn't need to be done, won't be done. You are the minister of transportation and you must take responsibility. If you don't take care of this, we see it as a violation of the status quo."
Senior Haredi leaders sent a letter to Netanyahu saying, "These works constitute a very serious precedent and flagrant violation of the status quo. In light of the urgency, and since we cannot be held accountable for the government desecrating the Sabbath, we request that you immediately postpone the work."
Prior to Netanyahu's announcement, Yisrael Beytenu called on the prime minister and minister of transportation to not endanger lives and allow the work to continue as planned. "We must not allow irrelevant considerations to intervene and disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis," said Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu).
