The new law banning IDF soldiers from Israel Railways during Sunday morning rush hour has been met with much anger, especially among parents of soldiers. The soldiers are banned from traveling for free on trains north of Tel Aviv on Sunday mornings between 6:00am-9:00am under the new regulations. On Sunday’s rush hour, a total of several hundred soldiers were found, those who decided to pay. All others looked for alternative means of transportation to head back to their bases.
Anyone who has traveled these lines during the Sunday morning rush hour is aware the trains are simply jammed because of the thousands of soldiers returning to their base but parents insist banning the soldiers was not the correct solution. The soldiers and parents question why Israel Railways cannot add additional trains during the peak hours. After all, the railway is not transporting the soldiers for free, for it receives payment from the Defense Ministry.
The other reason given is to save the Defense Ministry funds, millions of shekels annually but for MK (Kadima) Shaul Mofaz, the solution, punishing soldiers is simply unacceptable. He is threatening to hold up the Defense Ministry’s budget in retaliation.
Parents on Sunday protested at train station, explaining the soldiers barely receive spending money as a monthly salary, a monthly salary of several hundreds of shekels, and now they want to add this hardship on them.
Israel Railway responded by running 150 buses Sunday morning, taking soldiers from train stations to military bases. The IDF Spokesman’s Office announced the new plan is experimental, adding that no soldiers will be punished for arriving late at their base this Sunday due to the difficulties reaching their destination.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
One Response
They weren’t banned from trains – as the article clearly stated. The government just decided to cut a free benefit (well, free to the soldiers, the government picks up the tab). Given that Israel has a conscript army, that is unwise since it penalizes the less affluent soldiers (unless of course the army changes policy and extends all weekend leaves to allow them to sleep late on Sunday and travel after rush hour).