Knesset Passes Amendment to Halt Shabbos Work

The Knesset approved in a second and third reading early Tuesday a bill proposal  by United Torah Judaism MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni determining that the labor minister would have to take “Israel’s tradition” into consideration when giving permits to work on Shabbos.

In the explanatory notes: “It has recently become clear that government bodies such as Israel Railways and the National Roads Company, turned the Shabbos into an ideal day for work on infrastructure of Israel’s roads and railway tracks. These works, carried out in public, severely damage both the Jewish character of the state and the feelings of millions of religious and traditional residents in the State of Israel. In addition, the work also affects workers, including Jews.

“Many of the workers belong to the fragile sectors of the society and are forced to work on Shabbos, fearing that if they refuse, they will lose their jobs during the rest of the week as well.”