The battle for the Lag BaOmer holiday continues until the last minute: The Director General of the Ministry of Transportation, Keren Turner-Eyal, sent a letter last night (Wednesday) to the Director General of the Ministry of Education, Shmuel Abuav, in which she urged him to return the holiday to Sunday. This was published this morning (Thursday) on Galei Tzahal.
According to her, "It is not yet too late to repair the expected harm to the public interested in participating in the festivities, to the students of educational institutions and their parents.".
However, the Ministry of Education rejected the request, stating that classes would be held on Sunday as usual.
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The ministry added a stinging note: "We are confident that the Ministry of Transportation, which is facing major challenges in building the country's infrastructure, will find a solution to the transportation issue as soon as possible.".
Turner-Eil explained in a conversation with Galts: "It sounds like the Ministry of Education may not be aware of the celebration in Meron, which is for over a quarter of a million citizens of the State of Israel. If the holiday is not on Sunday, the celebration in Meron will not be optimal and the student population will also be harmed.".
Turner explained the Ministry of Transportation's decision to cancel student transportation, which is carried out by public transportation operators throughout the country on Sunday, by saying that there is a significant gap of hundreds of buses that are supposed to lead to the festivities - created due to the Ministry of Education's decision.
This means that tens of thousands of students will have difficulty reaching their remote schools on time.
According to officials at the Ministry of Transportation, the exceptional measure is intended to prevent a real safety risk to hundreds of thousands of festival participants if there is a shortage of buses.
Turner added: "300 buses from special transportation companies that were considered in the preparations for Meron will be removed from it." This removal stems from the fact that these companies are obligated to primarily transport students, which will harm the participants in the festivities.
She said, "Upon learning of the postponement of the vacation, alternatives were considered, such as extending the time of the transportation operation until late Monday morning, but the request was rejected by the police.".
The Ministry of Education responded: "The postponement of the holiday was determined in consideration of the nearly one million students who wish to celebrate the holiday. The ministry is committed to all its students, always. Classes in all educational institutions will take place on Sunday as usual. There is no room for blaming, but for finding a solution.".
""We are confident that the Ministry of Transportation, which is facing major and significant challenges in building the country's infrastructure, will find a solution to the transportation issue as soon as possible.".
