Tel Aviv continues to pour tens of millions of shekels into weekend public transportation. The city’s 2026 budget allocates 28.98 million shekels to “Na’im BaSofash” (Pleasant Weekend), a program that runs bus service on Fridays and Saturdays. But a closer look at the budget shows that other municipalities participating in the program cover part of the cost. The city expects to collect roughly 6.995 million shekels from those municipalities, bringing Tel Aviv’s net cost to about 21.985 million shekels.
When discussing this project, it’s impossible to ignore the public question of how taxpayer money is being used. Operating public transportation on Shabbat is a contentious issue in Israel, partly because it affects the Jewish character of Shabbat in the public sphere and violates the status quo.
While supporters see the program as an essential service enabling freedom of movement for those without private cars, opponents may view public funding of Shabbat transportation as an assault on the traditional character of Shabbat and a budgetary preference for a policy not accepted by the entire public.
Shai Glick, CEO of B’Tzalmo, said: “Na’im BaSofash is a program that harms the Shabbat-observant and traditional public in an exceptionally severe way and constitutes a de facto violation of the status quo. It’s unacceptable that the Tel Aviv municipality would fund it, especially in such a large amount. If there were demand for this, free market forces would have made it happen on their own. I call on the Tel Aviv municipality and other municipalities not to fund such an extreme program that harms the people of Israel.”
Tel Aviv-Yaffo Municipality responded: “In Tel Aviv-Yaffo, secular and religious people live together in peace and mutual respect, and even Channel 14 won’t succeed in creating conflict between them. The attempt to present the municipality as alienating itself from its Jewish identity is malicious and intended to create a false impression: the municipal investment in Jewish heritage and culture is much higher than the items presented, and includes activities in schools and kindergartens, piyut events, selichot, and activities in city neighborhoods. Tel Aviv-Yaffo is home to all population groups, religious and secular alike. We will continue to promote coexistence, tolerance, and mutual respect, and will not enable division and baseless hatred.”