Published: 13 December 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Israel is on its way to become a country of city-states (Haaretz)
TOMER PERSICO: After the public transportation system began operating on the weekend in a number of cities in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, we began to hear the word revolution being uttered more and more. Nonetheless, it is possible that even the people who have used this word may not have internalised just how dramatic a change is taking place.
It is obvious that the ability to be mobile on Shabbat in an urban space without a car is a refreshing change in its own right, and certainly as far as the underprivileged are concerned. The bite taken out of the obsolete “status quo” on matters of religion and state, which has been outdated for a long time, can provide a bit of comfort – but the story is much bigger than this.
Shifting the focus campaign for Shabbat transportation from the national to the municipal level has the potential to change the character of the entire country. This is multi-stage process – and public transportation is just one link – in which the issues of religion and state are privatised locally. It points up how Israel is gradually being divided into two separate countries with diverging public spheres.
Instead of forced enlistment, Israeli leadership must dialogue with ultra-Orthodox (Al-Monitor)
AKIVA ELDAR: Instead of demanding that the ultra-Orthodox enlist in the army — like the secular parties insisted during election campaigns — Israel’s political leadership must open a dialogue with the ultra-Orthodox leadership about academic studies and the labor market.
Photo: A passenger boards free weekend shuttle service in Tel Aviv, November 22 (Tomer Appelbaum)
