A man dressed as an Israel Railways inspector blocked a number of Haredi passengers from boarding the train car at the Bat Yam train station this morning (Thursday).
The man, who wore no Israel Railways logo on his vest, stood between the ultra-Orthodox passengers and the train, physically preventing the passengers from boarding - and said: "Urdu don't board.".
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Another passenger, who is not Haredi, documented the man, confronted him - and urged the Haredi passengers to get on the train.
The man shouted at the passenger who was taking the picture to stop taking the picture.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev responded to the publication: "I was shocked to see the shocking and difficult video from Israel Railways. I have instructed an immediate investigation into the issue. Such statements and such conduct will not be allowed in my school. I will update you immediately upon completion of the investigation.".
She later tweeted: "An initial investigation I conducted with the CEO of Israel Railways indicates that this was not an Israel Railways employee, but an impostor who entered the station complex and was detained by police forces. I instructed the CEO of the railway to investigate how an impostor got on the train and managed to impersonate a railway employee and harm the public. Something that should not happen.".
Israel Railways said in response: "In the last few minutes, a video was distributed showing a man wearing a yellow vest standing on a train station platform and engaging in discussions with passengers.
It should be clarified that the person is not employed by Israel Railways or companies that provide it with any services.
"The person was removed from the station by train staff immediately. The train will consider legal action against him.".
The ultra-Orthodox members of Knesset have already rushed to send angry messages.
MK Eliyahu Hassid from United Torah Judaism was quick to declare, without checking, that this was an "official inspector" and announced that he would submit an urgent motion to the agenda "regarding blatant discrimination at the Bat Yam train station by an official Israel Railways inspector who stands and physically blocks Haredim from boarding the train while announcing that "Haredim" do not board the train.".
Deputy Minister Meir Porush did not lag behind: "It is shocking to see how far the policy of incitement against the Haredim permeates. It is worrying that an Israel Railways inspector allows himself to make a selection and prevents Haredim from boarding the train. I demand that the Minister of Transportation call the CEO of Israel Railways to account for the behavior of his employees. Shame!".
Minister of Construction and Housing Yaakov Litzman spoke with Minister of Transportation Miri Regev about the shocking footage showing what he described as "a controller abusing ultra-Orthodox passengers and preventing them from entering the train while shouting, 'Ultimate Jews don't board here.'".
""The Minister of Transportation informed Minister Litzman that the serious case will be examined immediately and with the utmost urgency, with the aim of bringing the inspector to justice in light of his inappropriate behavior," Litzman's office said.
The chairman of the Shas faction in the Knesset, MK Michael Malchieli, said in response to the "horrifying video in which official officials from Israel Railways are allegedly seen preventing ultra-Orthodox people from boarding the Israel Railways":
""I spoke with Michael Meixner, CEO of Israel Railways, and he strongly condemns the act that the man did on his own accord. Such scenes are chilling and horrifying and stem from the wild incitement that exists in public discourse against the Haredi.".
""I appreciate the apology. At the same time, we will not discuss such cases and incidents at all.".
Deputy Minister of Transportation Uri Maklev on the train video: "We are happy to see that this is not a real incident, something like this could not have happened on Israel Railways, but this is a video that reflects a situation in which the Haredi public suffers from the image of disease spreaders. The Haredi public suffers from the coronavirus more than any other public. There is quite a bit of slander and slander against the Haredi public because of this.
""I call on members of the government when we make decisions to see the overall picture, and the comprehensive implications of each decision. These things must be taken in a balanced way - just as economic and educational issues are taken into account before making a decision, so the image implications must be taken into account.".
"In this pandemic, one depends on the other, and we need to strengthen each other and not reject each other.".
