A storm is brewing in the local council of Jatt in central Sharon: A bus stop bearing the name of arch-terrorist and mass murderer Yasser Arafat was recently erected there. An investigation reveals that bus stop names are derived from the streets where they’re located—but back in 2017, the state issued an explicit order to remove Arafat’s name from the council’s streets. A review of official records on the GOV website shows that no street by that name exists in Israel’s official registry, raising serious questions about how the stop was established and the offensive sign posted.
Following the exposure of this failure and the memorialization of the terrorist in the heart of the country, mutual deflection and blame-shifting between government ministries were revealed today (Thursday). The Transportation Ministry responded that responsibility for determining street names lies with the local authority under the supervision of the Interior Ministry. When the street name is changed, the station name will be updated accordingly. The Interior Ministry, meanwhile, claimed that authority and responsibility lie with the Transportation Ministry and the National Roads Authority. Transportation Minister Miri Regev said the ministry’s response is her response; National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declined to comment, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich did not respond by publication time.
One person who responded decisively and unequivocally to the affair is Knesset Member Yitzhak Kreuzer of the Otzma Yehudit party, who emphasized the severity of the incident. Kreuzer issued an especially sharp statement in light of the memorialization of the mass murderer and set a clear, firm ultimatum for the government ministries and relevant authorities—giving them a deadline of just two weeks to remove the sign and address the outrage in the council.