Earlier today, the Israeli press reported that Palestinian and Israeli passengers on buses to the West Bank would be segregated as part of a "three month trial" starting today. The proposal had been in the works for a while, Israel's Attorney General (Yehuda Weinstein) questioned Defense Minister Ya'alon about it when it was first revealed back in October.

From Haaretz: Israel begins separating Palestinians, Israelis on West Bank buses



Israel on Tuesday launched a pilot program under directive from Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon to separate Israeli and Palestinian bus travel in the West Bank. Palestinian workers will now have to return from Israel to the West Bank via the same checkpoint they left and will not be allowed to ride Israeli bus lines. The new regulations, implemented by the Civil Administration, could lengthen some workers' commutes by as much as two hours, according to the human rights organizations that plan to appeal against the new rules to the High Court of Justice.

Haaretz also revealed the minutes of a subcommittee of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, in which Karnei Shomron council head Yigal Lahav said: "Arab travel on buses is a victory over the Jewish occupier" and that it gave them "the experience of traveling with Jewish women." [...] The Defense Ministry was concerned that the state would have difficulty convincing judges that the separation was based on security and not ethnic grounds, due to the army's stance that there is no security risk on the buses in Samaria and in light of the racist remarks that accompanied the idea of separate buses.

If you're wondering why some Israelis believe segregation is necessary, here are some answers:Though the plan to segregate buses was discussed and revealed back in October, implementation was shelved till after the election which returned Likud to power. Within hours of the implementation, the government was forced to reverse course and cancel the pilot in response to a global uproar.

There are some suggestions that Netanyahu did not know the plan was to go into effect today. It seems the implementation and then subsequent suspension came as a surprise to a number of people. As Haaretz reports: Israel suspends plan to segregate Israelis, Palestinians on West Bank buses following criticism



Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon decided Wednesday to suspend a program to separate Israeli and Palestinian bus travel in the West Bank. [...] Earlier on Wednesday, Zionist Union leader and opposition head Isaac Herzog said "separating Palestinians and Jews on public buses is a warrantless humiliation and a stain on… the country and its citizens." In a Facebook post, Herzog added that the move will fan the flames "of hatred toward Israel around the world."

Meretz leader Zehava Galon said that Ya'alon "gave in to pressure exerted by Jewish settlers, who complained over the large number of Palestinians on the buses." Ethnic separation on buses, she said, is "unacceptable in a democratic country." "This is what apartheid looks like," said Galon. "Separate bus lines for Palestinians and Jews prove that democracy and occupation cannot coexist."

Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian leader in the West Bank, said that the plan for segregated buses was particularly “blunt,” but that other forms of segregation were still in place, pointing to the existence of roads in the West Bank that are exclusively for use by Israelis. “This revealed the fact that Israel unfortunately has transformed the situation into a system of apartheid,” he said.

Mordhay Yogev, a legislator from the Jewish Home party, was quoted in Haaretz at the time saying that the situation was “unreasonable” and that “the buses are filled with Arabs.” “I wouldn’t want my daughter to ride them,” he said, adding that girls and women had complained of being sexually harassed by male Arab passengers.

The NY Times also covered the events: Israel Cancels Project Barring Palestinians From Some Buses The tussle is not over yet, as Haaretz reports, the defense minister is sticking to his guns: Ya'alon vows to revive plan to segregate Israelis, Palestinians on West Bank buses . The Guardian notes that this is the shape of things to come given the ruling coalition's razor thin one-seat margin in the Knesset and the demands of the parties aligned with the settler movement: Israel's bus segregation row shows high wire act facing Netanyahu

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