I have just checked Egged's site and Bus No. 981, Bnei Brak to Safed and vice versa is a REGULAR scheduled bus service. There is NO mention of reserved seats on this route. To the best of my knowlege the on Bus route that has "Reserved Seats" are the buses to Eilat from Haifa.

"Disgusting" is not a strong enough word to describe the behaviour of these Haredim who forget that in time of war that, if not for these soldiers, regardless of their degree of observance, are the ones who put their lives on the line in time of war, to defend the country, including the Haredim, against the enemy. They should be given a place of honor on the bus and not be subject to such vile behavior.

You are as wrong as those on the bus who referred to others as the "real Jews" and not the soldiers. I hope you enjoy the company.

are we Arians now? Disgusting ..just shows that we Jews are no different from anybody else. We have our own idiots, and plenty seems like.

You're to late

... I've been in Chile, and the soldier's there also ride bussed free of charge. Yet, in two years I never saw a soldier sit down. Whether a reserve soldier, a conscript or a carreer officer, a soldier stands as if before his general - riding one block or twenty - out of respect for the uniform. It is time we developed an army of real soldiers who do not whine but rather stand proud.

I think what the individual Haredim said to our soldiers is simply disgusting. Our IDF soldiers are as Jewish as the Haredim. Haredim do not have a monopoly of being Jews simply because they follow the traditions exactly by the book. It is not strange costumes, or fancy costumes, jewelry, special hairstyles, beards, hats or traditions that make you Jewish: it is your Jewish bloodline, ancestry and what you feel in your heart that makes you Jewish - plain and simple. In short: the Haredim should not have said what they have said. They insulted our soldiers. On the other hand: if it turns out that the specific seats were taken the IDF soldiers should have simply said: "We will sit here while nobody is claiming them. When the passengers show up and show us their receipts or tickets we will kindly stand up and let them sit down in their places they have paid for." Yes, its true the these indivudal Haredim insulted the soldiers. But the soldiers should have known that those seats were taken. Without involving "secular vs religious" artificial conflicts again, the Haredim could have simply said: "These seats are reserved." And the soldiers should have accepted it. No shouts, no conflicts. Neither the Haredim nor the IDF soldiers behaved well. Religious intolerance is bad. Secular intolerance of the religious is also bad. But arrogance and nonchalance which is rampant in Israel both among religious and secular is also bad.

... One for the soldier, one for his/her feet, a third for the weapon and a fourth (and sometimes a fifth) for duffle bags - often while civilians stand. No honor, no pride in this Tzahal.

So there I am, sitting in my reserved seat at the IPO, along with other season ticket holders, and my son shows up, in uniform. He wants to sit next to me, so he tells my neighbor to get up. My neighbor is unhappy. So why is this different from people having a purchased a reserved seat on a bus, or a train, or an airplane, and then finding that a soldier is sitting in that seat and refuses to move. I've seen that happen on the trains almost every day. The conductor comes along, asks the soldiers to leave (not just the seat, but the entire car), and they do. I don't see why the reference in the article to Haredim changes the facts, other than to foment strife.

I have a hard time believing that any Egged employee would have more sympathy for Charedim than for IDF soldiers. Sounds like the Egged inspector simply wanted to enforce the reservation system, and the soldiers, as typical of Israelis, had no respect for that. I recently took a bus from Baltimore to New York, which you had to reserve in advance. If you showed up without a reservation, then you could only get a seat if they had extras. It would not occur to anyone, soldier or not, to show up without a reservation and demand a spot. But that is here in civilization.

..but I don't understand the problem... Where I'm from, old people would probably offer their seat to a soldier,which would be refused,with thanks..it's all about respect and courtesy,which,while I'm a huge Israel supporter, I find this nonsense hard to comprehend.

this begs the question, why does egged need to have reserved seating on "certain routes"? if "certain passengers" want to be guaranteed special seats (away from women, for example), why don't they get together, hold hands, and take a sherut?! egged is in the PUBLIC transportation business, and should not be catering to "special groups" at the expense of the public.