A Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee subcommittee on Tuesday met regarding the Supreme Court decision to permit Arab motorists to travel on Highway 443, the Jerusalem – Modi’in Highway.
Coalition chair MK (Likud) Ze’ev Elkin declared the state is not at all prepared for the move. The IDF has not stated a position while the Transportation Ministry indicates it requires at least 3 months to prepare for the move, which will result in a significant increase in the number of vehicles traveling the road daily.
Elkin cites that today, 3.5 months before the court’s decision is implemented, no one really knows and the experts predict Highway 1, the Jerusalem – Tel Aviv Highway will collapse as a result as many believe many motorists will abandon 443, opting for a safer ride on Highway 1.
Elkin also questioned the current discriminatory practice, citing last year, roads were opened to Palestinians exclusively, seeking to relax restrictions and facilitate their travel in Yehuda and Shomron while Jews are banned from those roads. The committee has requested a list of roadways from the IDF that are currently off-limits to Israeli and that can be opened to them in the future. The IDF is instructed to respond in the coming weeks. This would include Wallerstein and Atarot Roads, both located in the Binyamin Regional Council in Shomron. Elkin was firm, adamantly opposed to opening roads to Arabs only.
Elkin stated the agencies are responsible to ensure the safety of Israeli motorists on 443 under the new arrangement, adding at present, there is no solution for buses traveling the road, which unlike in Yehuda and Shomron, they are not armor-plated and bullet-resistant. He added that even today, there are 70 buses operating on roadways in Yehuda and Shomron that are not armor-plated. He explains there inter-agency dispute over paying for such buses remains deadlocked at this point.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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One Response
Every 10 minutes there is a bus travelling on the 443 from Modiin Elite (Kiryat Sefer) to Jerusalem; add to this buses in the other direction, and an equal number of buses to Modiin, plus all the private cars, and that already a lot of traffic. Right now, during the morning hours I can be stuck in traffic for almost an hour, whereas Route 1 is even worse
If they open the 443 to arabs, I predict that the Modiin Elite buses will start travelling through Modiin, to Route 1 – an additional 20 minutes travelling time – plus “stuck in traffic” time, could make the morning trip to Jerusalem up to 2.5 hours in length.