A Rishon Lezion small claims court on Wednesday instructed Israel's largest bus company to compensate a religious Rehovot woman for being asked to sit at the back of the bus "far from the men." The Egged bus company was slapped with a NIS 4,000 fine for what the court defined as gender discrimination, a violation of the High Court of Justice ruling preventing the forced segregation of men and women on public buses. The suit was filed in July by the Israel Religious Action Center and attorney Orly Erez-Lachovsky. The complainant maintains that an Egged bus driver had prevented her from sitting in the front of the bus en route to the ultra-Orthodox municipality of Bnei Brak. "I explained to the driver that the line was not a segregated line, but the driver dismissed my argument and said that only the rabbis can decide whether a bus is segregated or not. It was humiliating and insulting," the complainant told the court. Egged issued a statement asserting that this particular driver's behavior was not representative of the company's views. On Monday, one of Israel's chief rabbis ventured into the divisive question, saying separate seating on buses and similar practices adopted by some devout Jews were not required by Jewish law. Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar spoke after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was quoted as expressing shock over segregated buses and other practices of radicalized religious activists. In an interview with the ultra-Orthodox Kol Brama radio station, Amar was critical of these relatively new and controversial practices. "People who do it do it for their own sakes," he said of the segregated buses. "Certain people want to delineate a fence, perhaps because they see a need for it. But it is not Jewish law." Radical activists have segregated buses, cowed advertisers into removing images of women from posters on the streets of cities with large ultra-Orthodox Jewish populations, shunted women onto separate sidewalks and walked out of military events where women have sung. Some women have taken to dressing head-to-toe, in the fashion of Islamist fundamentalists, a practice that Amar also said was elective. Amar is the spiritual leader of Jews of Sephardic - or Middle Eastern and North African - descent. Israel has a second chief rabbi who serves the Ashkenazi, or European-descended Jewish population. With his comments, he became the most senior religious leader to step into the contentious debate over the nature of Israeli society, where ultra-Orthodox extremists have increasingly tried to impose their values on mainstream society. The ultra-Orthodox make up some 9 percent of Israel's 5.9 million-strong Jewish population, which is overwhelmingly secular. Clinton caused a furor in some circles over remarks she reportedly made in a closed-door session over the weekend expressing concerns over Israel's democracy. According to Israeli media, Clinton was also appalled by the segregation of women by some elements in the ultra-Orthodox community. Israel's Supreme Court has outlawed gender segregation on buses and sidewalks, but some transit routes and public spaces remain segregated in practice. Amar said Clinton's knowledge of the situation was incomplete. "If she were to learn from the right people ... she would know that the people of Israel respect women and turn them into veritable queens and princesses," he said.
Woman forced to sit at back of bus to be compensated, court rules
"It was humiliating and insulting" says complainant • Chief Sephardi rabbi says Jewish law does not require gender segregation on buses • Amar's response to criticism by Clinton: The people of Israel respect women and turn them into queens and princesses.
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