The issue of railway work being carried out on Shabbat is once again pulling into the platform. Members of the ultra-Orthodox parties held an emergency discussion on Thursday about Israel Railways conducting maintenance and repair work on Saturdays, when trains do not operate. The work has continued despite the haredi MKs' appeals and threats to the responsible ministers and to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Shas leader Aryeh Deri and United Torah Judaism head Yakov Litzman attended the meeting alongside United Torah Judaism MKs Moshe Gafni, Yisrael Eichler and Uri Maklev, and Shas MKs Yoav Ben-Tzur and Michael Malchieli. It was decided to convene the country's two leading Torah authorities -- the Council of Torah Sages, to which the Shas party adheres, and the Council of Torah Greats, which the United Torah Judaism faction follows -- who will instruct the MKs on how to approach the issue. "The emergency meeting of party heads took place in response to the ongoing activity of the Transportation Ministry and under the responsibility of the person who heads it [Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz], and Shabbat has become the regular and preferred day on which to carry out construction and infrastructure work," the haredi lawmakers said in a statement released after the meeting. "This could clearly be seen in the recent work on the Beit Yehoshua-Tel Aviv line: Even though train service had been discontinued for an entire week, work continued these past two Saturdays. All this was backed by the labor and welfare minister and the prime minister." Shas faction chairman Yoav Ben-Tzur said, "The meeting decided that since the work, which desecrates Shabbat, continues, we see Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz responsible for the work done so far, with the full support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Labor and Welfare Minister Haim Katz. Therefore, we are asking that the Council of Torah Sages and the Council of Torah Greats meet to discuss future steps." Ben-Tzur added, "It's a shame that Israel's leaders are trampling its Jewish character and hurting Israeli citizens' day of rest and relaxation."
