Tel Aviv gets new metro line but Sabbath-closure stirs secular anger

By Rami Amichai

PETAH TIKVA, Israel (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched Tel Aviv's long-anticipated light rail on Thursday amid protests against his religious-nationalist government and anger in the mostly secular city that the network will be closed on the Jewish Sabbath.

Police held back anti-government demonstrators as Netanyahu took the maiden ride on the "Red Line," but the sounds of protesters blowing horns and chanting were heard loudly as he stepped out of a carriage to cut a red ribbon during the inauguration ceremony at the northern Petah Tikva terminus.

Israel's freewheeling business hub Tel Aviv has been the main stage for demonstrations against the government's campaign to change the judiciary which has set off unprecedented protests and stirred concern for the country's democratic health.

"All the citizens, all of them, those who support us and those who are against us, will all use this train," Netanyahu said.

Tel Aviv's veteran mayor Ron Huldai boycotted the event, even though he has waited for 23 years for a light rail to slice through the congested metropolis which, including Tel Aviv's neighbouring towns, is home to more than 1.2 million.

Huldai said in a video statement, he would not support a service closed between Friday and Saturday evenings in accordance with Orthodox Jewish rites and a full weekend metro "is what would befit a liberal and democratic society".

The 24 km (15 mile)-long Red Line has 34 stations - 10 of them underground. It can carry 234,000 passengers per day with a 6-minute arrival frequency, according to its website with two additional lines planned for 2028.

Defending the light rail's ‮S‬abbath closure, Transport Minister Miri Regev said on Wednesday: "We are a Jewish state ... We are conducting ourselves in accordance with the rule of law and in accordance with the status quo."

"Status quo" is an Israeli term for the delicate arrangements between the secular and religious, or among various faiths, designed to maintain equilibrium. Critics of the government say it has shifted the balance in favour of religious parties.

(Writing by Dan Williams and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)