By Nir Hasson, Haaretz, January 31st, 2010

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz told the High Court of Justice yesterday that it should permit the continued operation of gender-segregated buses for the ultra-Orthodox. A committee appointed by Katz last year under High Court directives called for an end to the so-called "mehadrin lines."

The Dan and Egged public bus companies operate approximately 90 routes with a strict separation of male and female passengers, with the latter entering the bus via the rear door and sitting in the back while the men use the front door and sit in front.

The High Court has been deliberating for three years on a petition filed by the Israel Religious Action Center demanding an end to the special bus lines.

In a detailed report submitted to the High Court in October, a Transportation Ministry's committee examining the legality of the buses determined that any separation arrangement involved coercion, discrimination and violence against women and must be prohibited.

The committee added that if passengers choose voluntarily to sit separately that should not be prohibited, but the use of signs or other means to enforce separation should not be used.

After the report was submitted, Katz requested an extension of the deadline for him to present his position. Katz wrote yesterday that while the state "cannot establish separation between men and women using public transportation," operators should be permitted to hang "behavior-directing" signs asking passengers to sit separately but indicating that it is not mandatory.

Katz also rejected the conclusions of his ministry's committee regarding violence against women on the segregated buses and said a court document proved there is no violence or coercion against women on the lines and the female passengers voluntarily observe the separation.

The minister promised to ensure the absence of violence or coercion against women on the buses.

Attorney Einat Hurvitz, who represented IRAC to the High Court, said yesterday that Katz left many important elements out of his response.

"It's not clear on what authority he rejected the committee's determination that the separation involves violence and coercion against women. How could such an arrangement be voluntary? How could verbal violence and pressure against a woman who boards the bus be prevented?"

Jerusalem City Council member Rachel Azaria, a leader of the battle against the mehadrin lines, criticized Katz's response, saying that in it he was "betraying the secular, traditional, religious and most of the ultra-Orthodox publics for the sake of a minority of Haredi deal makers who decide for the rest of the community."

To read the original article in Haaretz, click here