An Israeli woman and her son said they were prevented from boarding a bus in Moldova on Sunday morning after the driver refused to let them on, allegedly telling police that the company “doesn’t transport Jews or Israelis.”
Chava Shmilovitz and her son were traveling back to Israel after spending the High Holidays in Ukraine. They told Ynet that when they arrived at the bus scheduled to take them from Moldova to Bucharest for their early Monday flight home, the driver blocked their entry, pushed the son, and ignored their valid tickets.
“We’ve heard stories about antisemitism, but I never believed it would happen to us,” Shmilovitz said.
According to her account, the two had visited the gravesite of the Baal Shem Tov in the Ukrainian town of Mezhibuzh after Rosh Hashanah and had traveled to Uman for Shabbat. Their flight from Bucharest to Israel was scheduled for 5 a.m. Monday, so they purchased tickets for a bus departing from Moldova to the Romanian capital.
Shmilovitz said her son, who wears a kippah, tzitzit and sidelocks, tried to board first but was stopped by the driver, who offered no explanation.
“He pushed my son and hit him, but my son didn’t give up and kept showing him the ticket we had bought in advance,” she said. “I also showed the driver my ticket, but he still refused to let us board. We called the bus company to confirm that our tickets were valid and that this was the correct bus, and they confirmed it.”
When the driver continued to block them, Shmilovitz said, she called the police for help. A police officer arrived at the scene and initially instructed the driver to let them on. However, according to Shmilovitz, the driver then made all passengers get off, drove a short distance, and let the others reboard in order to avoid the officer.
“My son walked over and saw that they were boarding again,” she said. “He asked the driver once more to let us on, and the driver refused. The driver didn’t speak English, but we found a police officer who spoke Hebrew, and he translated what the driver said — that the company doesn’t transport Jews or Israelis. The clerks at the company office said the same thing. They were very antisemitic, took our belongings out and shut the door on us.”
Shmilovitz said the company refused to refund the cost of their tickets despite the incident. “They won’t give us our money back. We had no choice but to take a private taxi to Bucharest for 2,000 shekels,” she said. “I’m in shock. I can’t process it. I never imagined this could happen to us. We’ve heard stories about antisemitism, but I never thought it would happen personally. It was horrifying. I have no words.”
She added that Israeli authorities should intervene on behalf of citizens facing antisemitism abroad. “The embassy should take legal action against them,” she said. “My son isn’t afraid and doesn’t plan to hide his Jewish appearance because of this. We’re still in shock. I listened to the officer and just couldn’t believe it.”
There was no immediate response from Moldovan police or the bus company regarding the allegations.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was aware of the report and was looking into the details of the incident.