Gett taxi in Jerusalem (Photo: Noam Moshkovitz)
Eight years after it was established, the Gett Mehadrin fleet will be closed and Gett will compensate Arab drivers who filed a class action lawsuit against it for NIS 6 million. In addition, the company will transfer NIS 6,100 to the "Hand in Hand" association, which promotes equality and coexistence for Arabs and Jews, and to Access Israel.
The service purported to provide a solution for the ultra-Orthodox population who asked not to take taxis that are also active on Saturdays and holidays. Drivers who wished to join the service were required to declare that the taxi with which they registered would not be operational on Saturdays and Jewish holidays.
In practice, the petitioners, Nidal Mughrabi and others, represented by the Reform Center for Religion and State, the law firm of Gil Ron, Keinan & Co., and Assaf Fink, argued, the arrangement was a laundered way to "address the unacceptable and discriminatory preference of passengers who wish not to travel with an Arab driver." As evidence, the plaintiffs cited recordings of conversations with drivers in the service, Gett's service provider whose job it is to add new drivers to the service, and with the chairman of the taxi committee.
In addition to compensating the drivers, the company will transfer money to Jewish and Arab accessibility and equality associations (Photo: Reuven Castro)
In its defense, Gett, through the law firm of Goldfarb, Gross, Seligman & Co., claimed that the service was operated in Jerusalem and its environs, including Neve Ilan, Beit Nekofa, Aviezer, Beit Zayit, Nes Harim, Beit Shemesh, Aminadav, Ramat Rachel, Abu Gosh, Mevaseret Zion, Ora, Kiryat Anavim and Motza Illit, did not violate the law at all and was intended to "provide a solution for the ultra-Orthodox public that wishes to travel in Sabbath-observant taxis," according to them.
As evidence, Gett cited a list of Arab taxi drivers who are members of the Navy. One of the petitioners' arguments against Gett was that because the driver is an Arab, there is no desecration of the Sabbath by operating his taxi on Shabbat and holidays, since a non-Jew cannot commit a sin in desecrating the Sabbath.
After a court hearing in March 2021, the parties were referred to mediation before the mediators, attorney Dr. Amos Gavrieli and attorney Vered Elkabetz, and at the end, after two years, the parties accepted the settlement in question. Eligible drivers will be able to choose whether to receive compensation in the form of an exemption from the monthly payment to the Gett (stewardship) according to the various routes, or redeem it with monetary compensation.
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