At the intervention of communal leaders in Haifa and Kiryat
Ata and UTJ Knesset members, the Shabbos shipment of an over-
sized consignment from Israel Shipyards to the Haifa
refineries was prevented. In the presence of the chairman of
the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee Rabbi Moshe Gafni,
Government Secretary Gideon Saar repeated his pledge of
government policy not to move freight on Shabbos.
From notices in local newspapers it was learned that the
shipment would be transferred from Israel Shipyards in Haifa
through Kiryat Ata to the refineries near Kiryat Ata. The
announcements were signed by a freight company planning to
begin the move on Friday afternoon and finishing up on Shabbos
morning. The transfers would be on two consecutive
Shabbosim.
Rabbi Yaakov Galai, chairman of Degel HaTorah in Kiryat Ata,
quickly informed Rabbi Moshe Gafni of the affair. Communal
leaders in Haifa, including Haifa Deputy Mayor Rabbi Avraham
Witzman, appealed to the Haifa area Traffic Bureau in protest
of the proposed move. In a letter to the head of the Traffic
Bureau in Haifa, Nabil Isawi, Rabbi Witzman wrote, "Since that
work could be carried out during the week, I ask you not to
transfer the shipment on Shabbos." Rabbi Witzman also appealed
to other Knesset members on the issue.
The refineries replied that they themselves had not initiated
the Shabbos shipment. The chairman of the refineries' board of
directors, former MK Ovadia Eli -- a religious Jew -- had
demanded weekday shipment of the freight. He even showed the
contract they had signed with the freight company that clearly
stated, "Since the roads near the refineries are most
congested on Fridays and Shabbos, under no circumstances
should shipments be moved on those days."
The refineries claimed that the police insisted that the
shipment take place on Friday and Shabbos, although Eli had
repeated his position at a meeting with the commander of the
Northern Region of the Israeli Police.
With the intervention of communal leaders and the UTJ MKs, the
Shabbos move was prevented. Israel Police also retracted its
recommendation for a Shabbos move. In the presence of Rabbi
Gafni, Government Secretary Gideon Saar once again repeated
his pledge that in line with the prime minister's promise to
UTJ, no shipments of this kind would be allowed on Shabbos.
