Rehovot Public Protest to Reinstate Unfairly Disrupted Egged Express Bus Service to Bar-Ilan University

When: Each Friday morning 9:20 AM (5 minute protest)
Where: Herzog Street corner HaGra St.
How: Cross the street in front of the 319 bus, waving our hands with an Israeli flag.

Why: Our Dati Leumi way of life is under attack by extremist Haredi elements. They have succeeded in canceling the Bar Ilan University (BIU) bus stop on the Bnei-Brak express bus line. While they claim this is because of immodestly dressed women (rarely happens), it is because BIU (integrating Torah with modern life styles) is the greatest threat to their way of life.

If we do not succeed in reinstating the BIU bus stop on the express route, we are in effect abandoning easy access for our kids to get a Dati Leumi education at BIU. We should not be surprised if this is not the last thing we lose to the never ending extremists, who are trying to impose their way of life on us.

On February 1, 2005, EGGED surrendered to Rehovot Haredi extremists and cancelled the BIU bus stop on the Rehovot-Bnei Brak express line (#318). EGGED replaced the # 318 bus that served BIU to and from Rehovot with the # 319 that follows the same route and time schedule exactly, but avoids stopping at BIU. Instead, EGGED renamed the # 317 local the # 318 and added a few extra buses - to provide only a quarter of the daily service for travelers between Rehovot and BIU. EGGED thus demonstrated their support of the extremist Haredi elements and their complete disregard of the needs (and legal rights) of the Dati Leumi community.

Unfortunately, to date, little progress has been made by the Dati Leumi community to reverse EGGED’s mistaken actions. We have received NO support from the Chief Rabbi of Rehovot, despite our request that he write a simple letter to EGGED requesting that they reinstate the BIU bus stop. EGGED would be very happy to receive such a letter since they are losing money on the duplicate service they are offering. Simply put, EGGED has been forced to choose between two different worlds – and so far they have chosen the Haredi world. Help us make EGGED realize that their decision was wrong.

Signed by: Rabbi Prof Yechezkel Babkoff, Rabbi Prof Aryeh Frimer, Prof Sanford Sampson, Prof David Kessler, Prof Jeremy Schiff, Prof Ron Ungar, Prof Heshy Basch, Prof Yaffa Machnes, Dr. Avi Caspi, Tammar Machnes, Barak Reif, and Henry Schwarzbaum. Presented image shows the protest held 16 September 2005