Ahead of tomorrow's meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee, Channel 10 Television reports it has received a copy of an internal mail sent to public transportation companies that says the monthly budget they are set to receive for December will be cut by at least 20 percent. The companies say that could mean cuts in service or the recently-raised wages of drivers.
The apparent reason is the opposition of Committee Chairman Moshe Gafni to transferring 1.3 billion shekels to the Transportation Ministry due to his opposition to Israel Railways work on the Jewish Sabbath. The ministry has denied that there will be cuts in service this month. A ministry statement said it expected Gafni to approve the public-transportation budgets.