Finance and Transportation Ministries Push Major Public Transport Reform Without Ultra-Orthodox Parties

Just before the Knesset's dissolution on Friday, ultra-Orthodox parties succeeded in removing the vote on the Metropolitan Transportation Authorities Law from the agenda, which included a proposal to repeal the Parking Law that had caused parking prices in Israel to surge. Now, the Finance Ministry and the Transportation Ministry are attempting to secure a majority without the ultra-Orthodox parties to convene the Knesset this week and pass the law in its second and third readings. This reform is one of the most significant transportation initiatives of the current government, aiming to decentralize transportation management from the central government to regional local bodies. These bodies would gain authority over routes, fares, and enforcement, allowing more localized and responsive public transport management.

The ultra-Orthodox parties oppose the law for two main reasons. First, it was advanced by the Budget Department of the Finance Ministry, which also issued a critical opinion on the costly Basic Law on Torah Study. Second, they fear that transferring public transport authority to local governments could lead to public transportation operating on Shabbat in some areas, which they argue would harm the status quo, despite the current law's wording not permitting such operations. The Transportation Ministry tried to reassure ultra-Orthodox MKs through personal meetings, but when these efforts failed, Transportation Minister Miri Regev began promoting the law without their support.

The law enjoys broad backing across coalition and opposition parties, and officials believe it would have passed if voted on before the Knesset's dissolution. The main challenge now is to bring the law to a vote quickly, as the Knesset legal advisor has stated the government has 90 days to pass additional laws, but government offices estimate that if it does not happen within one to two weeks, it likely will not happen at all. The Finance Ministry has launched an unprecedented social media campaign to promote the reform, which has been in development for over 30 years.

A joint letter from the Budget Department and the Transportation Ministry to Coalition Chairman Ofir Katz highlighted that traffic congestion costs Israel 40 billion shekels annually and that improving public transportation is the primary solution. Moreover, repealing the law would prevent billions in savings and block the vote on repealing the Parking Law, which is linked to the Metropolitan Transportation Authorities Law. The linkage was designed to expedite the repeal of the Parking Law by avoiding multiple Knesset readings, so canceling the metropolitan law also halted the parking law repeal vote.