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The Kavim bus company fired a missionary driver who regularly preached to his passengers despite being asked not to.

The anti-missionary organization Yad L'Achim related that it had received calls about a driver on the Kavim No. 461 route from Lod to Tel Aviv, who tried to persuade passengers to convert to Christianity. "The passengers feel they are a captive audience and being taken advantage of by the driver," one caller said.

After obtaining the driver's details, and taking into consideration that minors were being exposed to his preaching, a violation of Clause 368A in the criminal code that carries a prison sentence, Yad L'Achim demanded that the bus company act urgently to halt the phenomenon.

Kavim indeed took quick action, calling the missionary driver in for a disciplinary hearing and warning him to stop preaching to passengers, or else face dismissal.

Nonetheless, a month ago Yad L'Achim began to receive more and more complaints from passengers traveling the No 460 and 475 bus lines between Lod and Tel Aviv. In addition, it received a video showing the driver preaching to travelers, endangering them by repeatedly taking his eyes off the road, and continuing his sermons even as he entered busy intersections and made turns

In another video received by Yad L'Achim, the driver can be seen preaching at length about the Christian faith and attacking Judaism and Torah. An elderly woman is heard turning to him and saying, "Please stop, you are giving me a headache." But he merely suggested that she put on earphones and continued his preaching.

These two videos were apparently the straw that broke the camel's back. An additional hearing was held, leading to the driver's dismissal.

Yad L'Achim released a statement saying: "We thank the Kavim company for understanding the seriousness of the matter and terminating the employment of the missionary driver. It was clear that this preaching, which took place several times a day and was directed at dozens of passengers who were effectively held captive, had to come to an end. We ask the public to continue to turn to us whenever they encounter a service provider of any kind trying to preach to them while on the job."