NIF In the News

Enforce civility on the bus

The Jewish Advocate, December 28, 2009

Outside of serving in the security apparatus, being a judge must be among the toughest jobs in Israel.

While the military and intelligence institutions are responsible for maintaining the nation's physical security, those sitting on the bench must maintain its moral integrity.

That is particularly vexing when religion is at issue. In America, where the Constitution separates church and state, the Supreme Court still routinely wrestles with matters of faith. The Israeli courts don't have the luxury of falling back on a First Amendment. Religion is at the core of the nation's identity. It is, after all, the Jewish state.

It is also a state founded by people fleeing intolerance. Throughout history, when extremist ideology - be it religious or secular - has held sway, Jews have suffered. Thus, besides providing a haven for Jews, Israel aims to be a tolerant society. But Jews practice by many different rulebooks. When in the public sphere, the practice of some Jews infringes on the rights or the sensibilities of other Jews, the court has to step in as referee.

Such is the case with the running battle over public buses running through the haredi neighborhoods. The past decade has seen dozens of bus lines adopt de facto rules that women must sit in the back and dress modestly.

Mixed seating violates haredi tradition, which is based on a strict interpretation of Jewish law going back to Moses. But while a haredi man may take offense at sitting shoulder to shoulder with a woman, a woman may feel humiliated at being ordered to the back of the bus.

On occasion, women who have chosen to sit in the front of the bus - some unaware of the custom, others perhaps to make a statement - have been subject to verbal or even physical abuse by male passengers.

Opponents of gender-segregation on the buses petitioned Israel's High Court of Justice, leading the Ministry of Transport to form a committee to investigate the matter. In October, the committee recommended that public buses that run through the observant neighborhoods be allowed to have separate entrances designated for men and women, but that the segregation may only be voluntary. Should a woman who sits in front be subject to any sort of abuse, the bus driver must come to her defense.

While the committee seems to be trying to have it both ways, this seems to be a sensible solution given the alternatives. The law certainly cannot mandate mixed seating. But trying to mandate segregated seating would raise a host of questions: What percentage of haredi residents would qualify a neighborhood for special status? How often would the demographics be reassessed to take account of people moving in and out? How would the rule be applied to routes that run through both haredi and non-haredi neighborhoods?

The committee's recommendation takes a simpler, less intrusive approach. It allows a neighborhood's seating customs to prevail without coercing compliance. Yes, this leaves open the possibility that a man or a woman would sit somewhere that offends fellow passengers. But such incidents are likely to be isolated and not worth turning into a legal confrontation. In effect, the committee is asking riders to behave in a civil fashion and asking drivers to intervene when they fail to do so.

Israel's Transport Minister Yisrael Katz has until Dec. 27 to present his position on the bus matter to the High Court. We hope he resists the temptation to score points with Israeli's religious parties and endorses the recommendations of his own ministry's committee.