An IDF officer who boarded a bus in Bnei Brak on Monday claims he and two other soldiers were humiliated by Charedi passengers and an Egged bus comany employee, who ordered them to give up their seats for “real Jews,” Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
The reserve officer, 26, boarded bus number 981 to Safed on his way to his military base.
“The moment I got on the bus, the driver told me that I will have to stand because the seats are reserved,” he said. He noted that he was surprised because he found no such information when he looked up the line on Egged’s website.
As the officer, who met two other soldiers aboard the bus, sat down in an empty row, people began complaining that he was taking other passengers’ seats.
“Why are soldiers, who do not pay, allowed to ride the bus?” the passengers yelled as the officer tried to ignore the complaints.
According to the officer, an Egged inspector then arrived and yelled at him and the other soldiers to “get up and let real Jews sit.” They refused.
As the bus set out on its way, a few seats remained empty.
“As someone who served in the army for five years, and continues to serve in the reserve forces, I was appalled and ashamed,” the officer said.
Egged said in a statement that the particular bus was part of a pilot program for Charedi passengers travelling to holy sites in the north. As part of the program, passengers were allowed to reserve seats.
Egged spokesman Ron Ratner added: “We learned from an inquiry with the driver and the inspector that the officer and the soldiers were warned by the driver that they might have to stand because they did not reserve seats ahead of time. They refused to stand up.
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19 Responses
A total lie. Nothing new for Ynet or the anti-religious zealots.
This story sounds like nothing more than a fat load of RECHILUT
BETTER ASK A RAV IF YOU SHOULD MAYBE TAKE IT DOWN (or at least modify it)
Do you have any non-YNET accounts of the incident?
Were the perhaps not giving the seats to an older or handicapped person? Were they taking someone else’s reserved seats? Was the bus a “charter” not a public bus?
Actually, Egged has been advertising buses with reserved seating. Not sure as to the legality of this.
However, this would not excuse insulting soldiers, nor refusing to seat them when there are empty seats.
stamper,and you know this because you were on the bus?
The end of the article changes the whole beginning! There WERE reserved seats so they had no right to sit. Not to condone any coments that insult others, but my point is that when in a fight people say stupid and insulting things. This fight wasn’t started bec people had buttons to push with soldiers (as the headline and beginning of article tries to make it sound), the fight started when the soldiers refused to abide by the rules.
stamper…..how do you know it is a lie?
Repulsive at best, these soldiers protect all Jews, whom will the Charedi call when the arabs come?
The seats were empty and apparently there were empty seats.
This type of “special” handling for Charedim is a cause of Sinus Chimum from the public and needs to end
stamper knows it’s a lie because Jews never treat less religious Jews like second class citizens. Never look down their noses at them. Never go against v’ahavta l’reacha.
True or not true a sad account of events.
Even if a bus has reserved seats, 2-3 should be saved for chayalim, the sick, pregnant women, etc.
Message to stamper (#1): Hypothetically, if the story was verified as 100% true, what then is your opinion?
In WWII, in this despicable shmutzy medina in which we are but barely tolerated visitors and are ripe for the picking by all the closet antisemites (Hey fellas…did I get the Chareidi line right?) people would stand and give seats to soldiers on buses and subways…that’s how it should be.
My friends son is a charedi driver for Egged. He was on one of his run and a IDF soldier got on and ask to drop in where there is not a bus stop [usually done for the IDF but it is against Egged’s rules]. He was going to drop him where he asked and than start to a verbal attack on all charedi which ended his spell priviledge to be drop. Make sure the story is 100% true or it is just another way for the secular to fight the charedi
YITZCHOKY..who is it now who fights and dies for the other? Who throws eggs and garbage at the other? Who believes that he can impose his (and I think correct) world-view on the other by force? Who has the other subsidize his existance? And who is the tolerant one who after all is said and done allows all this? You guys demonize the frei more than they ever demonize you…even though your very life depends, with Hashem’s guiding hand, upon them.
If the facts stated are in fact true, I would say that the “pilot” program was a failure. Even if seats were reserved they were apparently empty when the soldiers got on the bus so at worst allow then to sit until the person reserving that seat came on to the bus. I would also wonder about the total lack of ‘hakoras hatov’ to your protectors. These are after all the people that put their lives on the line for us on a daily basis.
“REAL JEWS”??????? as opposed to the fake jews that protect the country and all the people that live there? What a busha and chilul Hashem. Soldiers DO NOT HAVE TO RESERVE SEATS. It is an honor to pick them up and ride with them.
If c’v a bus was attacked should they NOT protect you because they were NOT On duty at the time? Or because you made them stand and didn’t respect them. OH, of course not because then you would respect them and expect them to protect you.
hope its not true. my children serve in the IDF and I know for a fact how hard they work.
Why does YWN post articles tome and time again from the most anti charedi news/trash paper?? very often i check out their website and i am appalled by their anti charedi and anti jewish approach to things, not to mention that most of their comments on their site are from self hating jews!! so again i am just curious as to why YWN would quote such garbage?!?
mentch1 – you are Exhibit A for Chareidi shtuss…one who thinks that any non-Chareidishe Yid who has a stomach full of what many see as Chareidi excesses is merely a “self-hating Jew.” “Anti-Chreidi” and “anti-Jew” are one and the same to nudniks like you…Oy!