Jeffrey Goldberg has received the following email from Aaron Sagui, the spokesman at the Israeli embassy in Washington, regarding the brouhaha over “separate buses” for Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank:
Right now, Palestinians wishing to cross legally into Israel (with a working permit) have no direct line to the border crossing. So they either take unauthorized taxis (at expensive fares, since the service is uncontrolled by transportation authorities), or they have to walk or travel to an Israeli city or village (Ariel, for instance) and there take a bus into Israel. The relevant bus company opened two lines that will serve Palestinians, going from their place of residence into Israel, saving them the trouble of going to Ariel first, or taking those taxis. The bus company made it clear, in an official announcement, that no Palestinian shall be shunned or rejected if they choose to travel on the Ariel line.
So now we have an unequivocal and testable commitment. Good. That’s all some of us wanted.
