Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Monday a series of incidents in which women were refused entry to buses or forced to sit in specific spots on Sunday, stating "The State of Israel is a free country, where no one can limit who gets on public transportation and no one can dictate where she or he sits. Whoever does this is breaking the law and should be punished for it."
On Sunday, a group of teenage girls trying to get on a bus in Ashdod were told by the driver to cover up because they were wearing clothes that revealed their arms and legs. The girls were told to sit at the back of the bus.
“We were in shock,” said the girls after the incident. “Everyone looked away from us to the floor. There were only haredi people on the bus, and they didn’t react. We felt helpless and humiliated.
“We tried to speak to the driver, but he said we were naked and that we don’t understand anything. We were scared, so we didn’t say anything.”
"We tried to speak to the driver, but he said we were naked and that we don't understand anything"
The girls who were told to cover up on the bus
Footage shared from the incident showed that the driver also wouldn’t allow two boys who got on with the girls to sit with them, forcing them to sit in front. When asked in the video why the driver was behaving this way, he responded that he drives haredi passengers and that the girls have to respect them.
“Nativ Express learned about the incident from media inquiries and intends on thoroughly looking into the facts with the contractor that handled the journey on behalf of Nativ Express and to take any steps necessary to prevent repetition of this incident,” said the bus company in response to the incident.
“At the same time, and under the caveat that a thorough examination has not yet taken place, Nativ Express denounces behavior that excludes or harms its passengers based on their sex, race, nationality, or dress.
"Furthermore, the company regularly trains its drivers to respect the passengers and their duty to allow a safe and comfortable journey for every person while preserving the personal space of all the passengers. The behavior of the contracted driver, as described in writing, blatantly deviates from the company’s instructions to its drivers and those who work in its service.”
Also on Sunday in Ashdod, a woman trying to board an Elektra-Afikim line 86 bus was told that it was a line that was "only for men", according to Kan. This is at least the second such incident in Ashdod involving the company. In May, a woman trying to board the company's line 80 bus was told the same thing.
Meanwhile, according to Kan, a woman and her husband boarded a Dan bus in Ramat Gan, and when the woman tried to ask the driver a question, he ignored her. After a number of attempts, the husband asked the driver why he wasn’t responding, and he answered that he doesn’t “talk to women.”
Transportation Minister Miri Regev stated in response to these incidents that "there will be no exclusion of women in public transportation. Every incident in my opinion is something that must be treated with the utmost seriousness!
"Millions of passengers use public transportation every day, and as far as I'm concerned, not even one single case like this should happen. In the cases published in the last few days, the drivers were immediately suspended from their duties until the end of the investigation."
"Millions of passengers use public transportation every day, and as far as I'm concerned, not even one single case like this should happen."
Transportation Minister Miri Regev
These are just the latest in discriminatory incidents women face on buses
Sunday's three incidents are only the latest cases of women being mistreated and discriminated against on buses because of the clothes they were wearing or simply because they were women.
At the end of July, a bus driver in Eilat refused to continue driving because a woman wearing a sleeveless crop top got on the bus.
“The moment I got on the bus, the driver said that I cannot get on like that,” she told N12. “He said I need to put on a shirt.”
A few days later, a Kavim bus driver in Emek Hefer refused to allow a 14-year-old girl on his bus because she was wearing leggings and a short-sleeved shirt on her way to the gym. The driver allegedly yelled at her “Look at yourself, get out of here.”
Last week, two women were attacked on a bus to the Dead Sea by haredi men who said they weren't dressed modestly. According to Kan, the driver told them once to leave the women alone before continuing with the journey even though they hadn't.
Even when one of the women called the police who said the driver had to stop, he only stopped for a short while and then continued, saying "I'm not stopping and not waiting for the police. I don't care."