News Analysis: Rail repairs trigger political crisis in Israel

Routine maintenance work on Israel's railway has the potential to trigger a political crisis that may eventually lead to the toppling of the government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, observers here said Tuesday.

Netanyahu, who is at odds with his Transport Minister Israel Katz, shut down the train line connecting Israel's two major cities for a day at the beginning of the week.

While Katz favored the construction being done on Saturday, or the Jewish holy Sabbath, Netanyahu vetoed the decision.

The seemingly small issue of work over the holy day hits at the core of a constant debate in Israel -- the delicate balance between religion and state that exists in the small Jewish state.

Netanyahu faced threats from religious members of his coalition who said they would leave the government if such work would be carried out on the holy day of the week -- a day where work is forbidden according to Jewish belief.

While the majority of Israelis are secular Jews, the Orthodox Jews have major political influence. Twenty one of the 67 members of Netanyahu's coalition are from Jewish religious parties.

And when the fragile status quo between religion and state is threatened, political crisis arise. In a fragmented political system, the smallest stumbling block can cause major political upheaval.

The chances of Netanyahu's government falling are slim but the spiraling nature of Israeli politics make any hiccup in the coalition a threat to its stability -- albeit a short-lived threat, observers here said.

The current status quo is that the Israeli government should not publicly violate the Sabbath. The only exception is when lives are at stake -- at this instance, the Jewish religion even encourages the violation of the day of rest.

The status quo is a series of agreements and arrangements that deal with the interaction between state and religion. There are understandings not only about the Sabbath, but also about kosher food, Jewish marriages, education and conversion of people to Judaism.

Professor Abraham Diskin, a political scientist from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem who specializes in the Israeli political system, says it is clear that "the world has changed and the status quo cannot be maintained but it's principles will remain."

The highly contentious issues have been managed throughout the years with similar events occurring every now and then, sometimes to be solved in creative ways.

Since the work was scheduled on a major route and would result in the cessation of train traffic and the diversion to cars and buses, the Israeli police said it should be carried out on a Saturday in order to minimize the risk to peoples lives.

According to the police, the prospect of debilitating traffic jams and the subsequent inability of emergency responders to move freely may put people's lives at risk. Seemingly, this would be justification for religious Jews to conduct the repairs on the holy rest day.

This was not the case. Leaders of the religious parties threatened to quit the government should the maintenance work occur.

Netanyahu leads the Likud party. His transport minister is an up and coming star, apparently threatening Netanyahu's seat. In the past, the Israeli premier has elegantly alienated potential threats from within his party. Israeli media commentators have speculated that Netanyahu's threat to fire Katz was an attempt to quell internal Likud opposition.

In a column written by a prominent Israeli political commentator Amit Segal, he wrote that Netanyahu believed Katz was aiming for the premiership, convinced that Katz is 'undermining' him and working on Netanyahu's 'dismissal.'

Prof. Diskin says this is the heart of the crisis 'between two secular men' and not between secular and orthodox parties.

"Netanyahu did not fire him not because Katz is not powerful, but because he realized his own position is simply less popular."

Tens of thousands of Israelis were stuck in traffic jams on Sunday morning -- perhaps the busiest time of the week because trains were out of service.

The timing hit a particular nerve amongst the secular parts of the Israeli public -- soldiers and their families. Soldiers usually return to their bases on Sunday morning and rely on all types of public transport to do so.

This highlighted another contentious issue in Israeli society -- while secular Jews have compulsory military service, orthodox Jews are exempt from serving in the military in order to continue their religious way of life.

The sight of soldiers crowding on buses further highlighted the divide between the factions of Israeli society.

In a poll conducted by Israel's national radio station in recent days, more than 80 percent of the Israeli public is against firing the transport minister, while 43 percent of those asked to see Netanyahu as responsible for the crisis by caving in to political pressure.

Hundreds of people took to the streets in Tel Aviv to demonstrate against Netanyahu.

The Israeli parliament, which is still in recess, will hold a special session next week to discuss the issue.

While so far Netanyahu has not fired Katz, he publicly rebuked him at the weekly cabinet meeting saying the "crisis is completely unnecessary. There was no need to reach this situation."

The ramifications of this political crisis may still come to light as there is potential for secular parties to capitalize on Netanyahu's decision to favor his religious coalition partners.

While Diskin believes the crisis is a real one, it will pass and not lead to the formation of a new government.

"Residue will remain -- between the Orthodox Jews and Katz and also between Netanyahu and Katz," Diskin summarizes.

As the dust settles, it is the residue that may eventually lead to a shift in Israeli politics. Endit