Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel and MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) published a statement on Friday afternoon, before Shabbat, in the wake of the resignation of Health Minister Yaakov Litzman.
"The National Union calls upon the prime minister to cancel work which is not pikuach nefesh (life saving) on the Israel Railways in order to preserve the character of Shabbat in the public sphere," they said.
"The change in the status quo in recent years, which was done by granting permits to carry out public works during Shabbat, must be fixed, and Shabbat must be strengthened in the State of Israel as a Jewish and social value."
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)