In a query submitted by MK Moshe Roth (United Torah Judaism) to the Minister of Transportation, he raised the plight of public transportation for the haredi communities in Tiberias and Haifa.
Roth detailed the close connection between the success of Jewish development in the Galilee and the accessibility of high-quality and efficient public transportation.
"The government talks a lot about the Jewishness of the Galilee, we actually encourage and succeed in convincing people to settle in the Galilee, and so it is unacceptable to leave these families without adequate public transportation," said Roth. According to him, "Just in the community of Sanz Hasidism in Tiberias is over 400 families, and there are thousands more haredi families in the various communities in the city. We must provide them with proper public transportation services."
According to him, the public transportation system between the Galilee and the larger haredi concentrations do not provide even a minimal degree of service to the haredi communities there. For example, the public transportation lines from Tverya and the Hasidic neighborhoods in Haifa to Kiryat Sanz in Netanya, amount to only one trip a week, on Saturday night.
"How can you expect people to get to their places of work, if there is no bus line to take them there and back?" Roth wondered. According to him, many inquiries that reached his office complained about the situation. "Young families settle in the Galilee, and then the family members discover that they cannot be in continuous contact with their families, that they cannot get to their workplaces, or even for health needs that require arriving at the old haredi medical center in Kiryat Sanz. It is negligence to send entire communities there, without a means of transportation for them."
In response to the query, the government's representative at the hearing, Deputy Minister of Transportation MK Uri Maklev, replied that he is aware of the issue and will work to provide the haredi public in Tverya and Haifa with quality public transportation, so that they can reach their workplaces, enjoy family visits, and attend to their other needs.