Secular Israelis on buses strike a blow for religious freedom

AT THE Clock-Tower Square in Jaffa, dozens of Israelis wait in the winter sun for a bus home after a Saturday afternoon in nearby restaurants and bars. Any other day of the week this would be normal, but for today’s passengers there is a subversive thrill.For over 70 years buses and trains have not run in most of Israel from sundown on Friday to nightfall on Saturday. Before Israel’s founding in 1948, its first leader, David Ben-Gurion, won support from ultra-Orthodox rabbis for statehood by promising that public services would not operate on Shabbat. Every Israeli government since has adhered to the agreement, against public wishes: 71% of Jewish citizens favour public transport on the Sabbath, a survey finds.