Great frustration. There is no other way to describe the journey I went through last Friday when I traveled from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, more or less the main artery of Israel, on Egged bus line 405 on my way to my mother’s generous cooking – (there is no Persian food like this even in Isfahan) – and the football conversations with my father.
Usually I enjoy the ride through familiar landscapes, but since Operation “Roaring Lion” began, the basic service of taking a bus has become a luxury. It almost feels as if the drivers themselves were drafted as fighter pilots bombing Iran, or that the buses are dropping the bombs – because the ride barely moves. I have the impression that citizens in Israel are being ignored, and even with elections approaching, Transport Minister Miri Regev still does not produce adequate solutions.
Why has the simple trip between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem become almost impossible?
Here is the grim balance sheet I wrote down during a desperate attempt to visit my parents in Jerusalem: instead of a bus every half hour, as on a normal Friday, buses now leave once an hour. Since the Sabbath begins early, there is an enormous rush of passengers and the platform is packed, but apparently taxpayers are not being counted – why would anyone add more buses?
The return bus was supposed to leave at 14:15 on Friday, so I arrived early at Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station to be first in line and make sure I would not get stuck. But two minutes before boarding, an announcement came over the loudspeaker: “405 will depart only at 15:00”. Then they added that “there will be disruptions on all buses”. So how are people supposed to get home? “This is not a normal situation,” the announcement said. “There is a war.” And finally, just before my anxiety attack really started, bus 405 somehow appeared.
What can you say, Bibi, well done on security – but we also want to live. Not luxury trips abroad, not flights, not the suits of the Ministry of Transport or of Minister Miri Regev – just the ability to visit family on a Friday. Everyone in Israel is already on edge anyway.
