Chareidi protesters in Bnei Brak blocked an Egged bus because the driver was a woman

In Bnei Brak on Sunday, charedim who were waiting for an Egged transport obstructed the bus when it arrived in protest at the driver—a woman.

Passersby said, “They refused to enter and stopped her from continuing the route.” Early in the afternoon, passengers on board bus No. 146, which was traveling from Bnei Brak to Holon, wanted to board a bus that was not driven by a woman.

In response to the incident, the Egged firm said: “This was a terrible and disgraceful act, and we sharply condemn hurting Egged bus company employees who are diligently performing their tasks.

An extremist bunch of hooligans who do not speak for the city’s citizens obstructed the 146 bus from Bnei Brak. In order to prevent attacks of this nature from occurring again in Bnei Brak or anywhere else in Israel, we hope that law enforcement officials will bring these hooligans to justice.

The contentious topic of gender separation routinely makes the headlines. Gender separation on buses is only permitted with the consent of all the passengers, as the Supreme Court determined in 2011.

Many Chareidi enclaves have Mehadrin buses. Uri Maklev, the deputy minister of transportation, has urged women to accept the creation of “separate-gender routes” and asserted that doing so “is not feminine exclusion but rather a feminine benefit.”