The saga of the private bus companies leading the Lag BaOmer celebrations in Meron: The police decided this year, as part of a new ordinance, that buses from private companies will only be able to park in the remote parking lots in Ein Hozim and Sapsofeh, while buses from Egged and Nativ will be able to reach the parking lots in front of the gate of the Meron settlement.
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The publication sparked a public outcry, and the issue reached a point of discussion in the Knesset's Interior Committee and in a personal meeting between the head of the Israel Police Traffic Division, Chief Yaakov Chiko Edri, and the ultra-Orthodox members of Knesset.
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At the meeting, Edri promised that during times when there is no pressure on the access roads near the settlement of Meron, the police will also allow buses from private transportation companies to drop off passengers at the gate of the settlement of Meron. In an article he published about this Yaakov Reinitz In the newspaper The informant It was noted that such instructions must also be given in writing to police officers at the field level, as without explicit written instructions, there is no cover for the solemn promises made by certain elements of the Israel Police. Yesterday, it turned out that he was not entirely wrong in his early assessments.
Information received by Hamodia indicates that during a phone call yesterday between a senior Egged company official and the commander of the Jewish National Police, Lieutenant Colonel Amnon Itzkovich (the man actually responsible for the routes to Meron), the latter said that all the promises published in the Haredi media are baseless, and that the police will not allow the private companies' buses to reach the gate of the Meron settlement, but rather that they will arrive at the distant parking lots and from there board shuttles, as the police's original plan.
Meanwhile, Amir Keinan, national traffic manager at Egged, the man who is actually responsible for managing Egged's transportation system to Meron, told the news outlet: "This year, Egged is operating the bus lines to Meron for the 'Nativ Express' company, and it will only be possible to travel with us by booking tickets in advance." According to him, this is the largest transportation operation in the country.
According to Keinan, although the lines from Jerusalem and Bnei Brak to Meron already belong to the company 'Nativ', this year Egged is still managing the operation, at the request of the Ministry of Transportation, since Egged is the only company with experience in the field of mass transportation. According to Nativ - which was awarded the operation of the lines to Meron only a short time ago - the company has not yet prepared for an operation of this magnitude.
The one who is still confident that the police will ultimately allow private company buses to reach the gates of the settlement is the chairwoman of the Knesset's Interior Committee, MK Miri Regev, who sent a letter on the subject to all the parties responsible for producing the festivities.
