National Traffic Police officers in the Lachish area spotted a driver reading and praying from a prayer book while driving, holding it in both hands and taking her eyes off the road.
The officers instructed her to pull over because of her careless driving.
While speaking with the driver, one of the officers explained the danger of her actions: "I am also a person of faith, and I also pray every morning... We saw you holding a prayer book in both hands while driving, looking down and then back at the road. Your hands were not on the steering wheel".
The officer said, "If the person in front of you brakes even slightly, I could be meeting you under different circumstances..." The driver did not try to justify her behavior and replied, "I know what I did was wrong".
As part of the same enforcement operation, officers also took action at Plugot Junction against drivers who bypassed traffic jams and cut in ahead of vehicles waiting in line legally. Police explained that this behavior forces other drivers to brake or swerve out of their lanes and could cause accidents.
One of the drivers caught during the operation was fined NIS 1,000.
The enforcement activity was part of Operation "Committed to Life", led by the Traffic Division and the National Road Safety Authority to reduce road fatalities.