Stranded Bnei Brak Rider Gets Private Bus Home, Courtesy of Transportation Minister

YERUSHALAYIM
israel elections
Transportation Minister Betzalel Smotrich. (Sraya Diamant/Flash90)

A Bnei Brak resident who missed the last bus – because it never showed up – got a special “lift” home Wednesday night, courtesy of Transportation Minister Betzalel Smotrich. After receiving a message from the stranded traveler, Smotrich dispatched a bus to pick him up and take him – and others who were waiting in vain for the bus – home.

The last bus from Netanya to Bnei Brak – operated by the Metropolin bus company – did not arrive as scheduled, and close to midnight, when it became obvious that the bus was not going to come, Yossi Friedman of Bnei Brak took matters into his own hands and contacted the minister directly. “Good evening dear minister,” he wrote, describing how at 11:40 p.m. the 613 and 614 bus lines had not shown up, and that he was going to have to take a taxi if he wanted to get home, or spend the night at his office in the Netanya industrial zone.

Perhaps surprisingly, Smotrich responded within a few minutes, and promised to look into the situation. And perhaps even more surprisingly, Friedman got a phone call from the bus company’s service department – telling him a bus was on the way to take him home.

In response, Friedman wrote back to Smotrich that he appreciated what the minister did. “As transportation minister you are doing wonderful work for me and for many others. You deserve praise for your actions. You are the best minister in this country.” Smotrich in turn wrote back, wishing Friedman a pleasant ride home and apologizing for the delay – and shrugging off the credit as well, telling Friedman that it wasn’t he who had arranged for the bus, but another ministry official.

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