A few hours after announcing the launch of a pilot program to renew separate buses in Yehuda and Shomron for Jews and PA (Palestinian Authority) residents, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon canceled the program.

Newly-appointed Deputy Defense Minister (Bayit Yehudi) Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan got his first taste of what he tenure in the post will be like. He told the media that after speaking in support of the pilot program during a Knesset session, he was not informed that his boss, DM Ya’alon, did an about face and canceled the program. He told the Knesset that he does not understand why the decision was reversed.

Expressing his opposition to the cancelation of the program, Ben-Dahan spoke of his surprise over hearing of the decision, which he clearly was not a part of.

Both Netanyahu and Ben-Dahan do not want Ben-Dahan in his current post, which is the result of successful Bayit Yehudi coalition negotiations rather than their desire to see him serving under Ya’alon.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)