Israel calls off plan for segregation on West Bank buses

Israel's prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has called off a proposed plan to segregate Palestinians from Israelis on West Bank buses, overruling his own defence minister in an attempt to avert the first crisis of his new government following a flurry of criticism.

Mr Netanyahu called defence minister Moshe Yaalon to tell him he found his proposal “unacceptable” and the two then decided to freeze the plan, an official in the prime minister’s office said.

Mr Yaalon had launched the three-month pilot programme following repeated complaints from Jewish settlers who use the buses and say Palestinian workers constitute a security threat and harass female Jewish passengers.

Thousands of Palestinians enter Israel for work each day from the West Bank and often return home on buses alongside Jewish settlers.

The Palestinian labourers all have security clearance and special permits, but the proposed change would have forced them to return home through the same checkpoint they entered and prevented them from using West Bank buses alongside Israelis.

Critics derided the plan as racist and said it would harm Israel’s image, which has already been under pressure because of its continued settlement activity in the West Bank.

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 war. Palestinians want it as part of their future state.

"The separation between Palestinians and Jews on public transportation is an unnecessary humiliation and a stain on the face of the country and its citizens," opposition leader Isaac Herzog wrote on his Facebook page.

“It adds unnecessary oil to the bonfire of hate against Israel in the world.”

Zehava Galon, leader of the Meretz party, went further, saying: “This is how apartheid looks.”

The proposal even came under fire from backers of the settlements, who said it did not promote their cause and created undue damage to Israel’s image.

Mr Netanyahu quickly reversed course amid the criticism, marking an inauspicious start for a government that took office this week and has held exactly one cabinet meeting.

Netanyahu coalition

Mr Netanyahu’s narrow coalition is dominated by hardline politicians aligned with the West Bank settler movement.

In particular, the pro-settler Jewish Home party managed to drive a tough bargain during coalition negotiations - with party members securing appointments as education minister, agriculture minister, justice minister and deputy defence minister.

Their support for further settlement construction, and their opposition to peacemaking with the Palestinians, has set the stage for likely clashes between Israel and its Western allies.

The bus segregation plan, if implemented, would have likely drawn global comparisons to both South African apartheid and the racial segregation on buses that sparked the US civil rights movement.

Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, commended the reversal of course, saying that such separation between the two groups would be “unthinkable”.

“Such statements go against the very foundations of the state of Israel, and impact upon our very ability to establish here a Jewish and democratic state,” he said.

“It is important we remember that our sovereignty obligates us to prove our ability to live side by side.”

Jerusalem attack

Meanwhile, a Palestinian attacker in a vehicle ran over two police officers in east Jerusalem, police said.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said officers on the scene opened fire at the attacker and killed him. The two police officers were lightly wounded and evacuated to a hospital.

Israel has seen several isolated vehicular and stabbing attacks in Jerusalem in recent months, raising fears of a renewed wave of Palestinian violence similar to the one that gripped the country a decade ago.

PA