Attorney-General to Ya'alon: Who says you can order separate buses?
Following reports that Ya'alon was planning to order separate Israeli, Palestinian buses in the West Bank, Weinstein demands clarifications.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBIsraeli soldiers check cars at a checkpoint near the West Bank City of Jericho(photo credit: REUTERS)
Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein on Monday sent a message to Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon that he may not be able to order separate Israeli and Palestinian buses in parts of the West Bank on his own authority.Following reports on Sunday that Ya'alon intended to do just that, Weinstein instructed Deputy Attorney-General for Legislative Affairs Dina Zilber to write Defense Ministry Legal Advisor Ahaz Ben Ari, demanding clarifications and an explanation by November 9.Zilber clearly implied to Ben Ari that Weinstein had not been consulted and wanted to know if Ya'alon intended to try to make buses separate in parts of Samaria as well as order all Palestinians working in Israel to come and leave from the same crossing.Clearly preparing to weigh in on the issue, Zilber demanded that the defense ministry explain what gave it the authority to unilaterally make such a decision, a review of the security factors involved, and what alternate options had been investigated.Ya’alon’s new security edict, which has yet to be put in place, would require Palestinian laborers to head home at night through the same IDF checkpoints from which they entered, security sources told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.Technically speaking, Palestinians can continue to use Israeli buses on either side of the barrier, but the edict makes this very cumbersome.There is no start date for the security edict, which is likely to begin with a pilot program at the Eyal crossing in Samaria, security sources said.Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.
