Demonstrators in Tel Aviv on Friday disrupted the day’s last light rail trams for a third straight week, blocking the tracks as they protested the lack of public transportation during Shabbat.
The blockages took place in Jaffa’s Jerusalem Boulevard, leading all trams nearby to stop and passengers to be forced to disembark. Trams continued to run north of Jaffa.
Referencing the start of the school year, protesters staged a mock “civics class” on the tracks with desks and chairs, in which they discussed “the history of the [religious] status quo in Israel and its disruption by the government of destruction.”
Protesters said they planned to remain in place until the start of the Sabbath.
Demonstrators have disrupted the light rail on every Friday since it started operating two weeks ago. In previous weeks, protesters handcuffed themselves to handrails inside the light rail cars and held what they said was a “Kabbalat Shabbat,” or Shabbat service, on board.
The light rail, which carries passengers 24 kilometers (15 miles) across 34 stations from Bat Yam to Petah Tikva, opened to the public August 18 after decades of planning, years of construction and a long series of delays. The new light rail reignited simmering frustration in the secular public over the lack of public transportation on Shabbat.
ביום הראשון ללימודים, שיעור דמוקרטיה על פסי הרכבת הקלה, שדרות ירושלים, יפו, קרדיט @barakdor
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עזרו לנו לעצור את ההפיכה המשטרית >>> https://t.co/6pv9OAI4LQ pic.twitter.com/669VK58b4E— Restart Israel (@restart_israel) September 1, 2023
Secular residents, who make up the majority in the area, argue that such services should be available to them, without harming the sensitivities of religious Israelis who refrain from their use on the Sabbath.
הרכבת הקלה עומדת כמעט שעה לאחר שמפגינים נגד אי הפעלתה בשבת חוסמים את הפסים באזור שדרות ירושלים ביפו pic.twitter.com/K7EnN8Af21
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) September 1, 2023
While the protests have focused on the specific issue of the light rail’s operating schedule, they have been attended by activists who oppose the government more broadly, particularly its judicial overhaul, and represent a long-dormant liberal Israeli public that has become increasingly frustrated with the monopoly that Orthodox groups have on the country’s Jewish identity.
The light rail recently said it would extend the hours on which trams run on Saturday evenings, following public criticism. The light rail now starts operating at 8:30 p.m., an hour earlier than it did at first. And final trams finish their service close to 1 a.m. — about an hour later than it does on weekdays and later than it did at first.
