Theocracy raises is disgusting head again in Zion

When the crises over work last week started, the operation was justified on "pikuach nefesh" (life threatening conditions) grounds.

This has shifted the criteria for Sabbath work that can have ramifications far beyond the original incidents.

Some questions:
1.  Is it "life threatening" for Israel not to have rail service at all?
2.  Is it "life threatening" for infrastructure projects to take x% longer time to complete cost y% more money?
3.  Is it "life threatening" for Israel not to have manufacturers engaged in industries that require 24/7 operations (for example glass and steel production).
4.  Is it "life threatening" for Israel to have the airports closed on the Sabbath - or for that matter for the many hours after the end of the Sabbath so that equipment is not prepared to fly during the Sabbath.
5. Is it "life threatening" for GNP per capita to drop by X% as a result of the implementation of a "life threatening" criteria for Sabbath permits?

Its definitely complicated.

And even more complicated if the ultimate impact is that Lapid's party gains so much support in the next elections that he forms a secular coalition.

A modest suggestion:  a greater concern might be insuring the rights of Sabbath observers to integrate into the economy.
1. How do you insure that a Sabbath observer is not discriminated against in hiring and promotion in a job function in a company that has a Sabbath shift?
2. How do you insure that a Sabbath observer store owner doesn't face unfair competition from stores selling on the Sabbath (clothing, furniture, appliances, etc.)?

A Hebrew version of the message below from the Prime Minister's Office was prepared and released during the Sabbath.  Apparently the preparation and release of the message was a matter of "pikuach nefesh"?
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Statement from the Prime Minister's Bureau

(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Advisor)
3 September 2016

This is an initiated and unnecessary crisis on the part of Minister Yisrael Katz designed to undermine relations between the Prime Minister and the ultra-orthodox public or alternatively to damage the image of the Prime Minister among the general public.

From the outset there was no need to initiate work on Shabbat. It would have been possible to carry out the work on other dates that would not have harmed the ultra-orthodox public, passengers or soldiers. For example, it would have been possible to combine the work with the eight-day shutdown of the railroad – which has the approval of the Transportation Ministry – in the coming weeks.

Israel Katz is holding passengers and soldiers as hostages in an unnecessary and artificial crisis that he initiated after having failed in his attempt to take over the Likud institutions.

The Prime Minister is outraged over Minister Katz's cynical attack on passengers and soldiers and is doing his utmost to minimize the damage to these publics in the next 24 hours.

To this end, the Prime Minister and Defense Minister have agreed to place buses at the disposal of soldiers over the next 24 hours. The Prime Minister has also instructed the Transportation Ministry to boost public transportation between Tel Aviv and Haifa with additional buses.

The railway construction crisis that came into our lives just over a week ago does not really have anything to do with Shabbat or with the ultra-Orthodox community. These simply serve as decoration in a political game.

Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shut down Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz in a battle over the Likud secretariat. Now, Katz is creating a crisis for Netanyahu over the issue of Shabbat and is presenting him as submissive to haredi demands. This time, however, it may end in a dismissal.

In general, you could say that the mainstream media's position on most issues is staunchly anti-haredi. Out of hundreds of budget transfers that the government carries our over the year for various purposes, only the funds transferred for the ultra-Orthodox community will be presented as "capitulation." Of the thousands of laws that the Knesset passes to benefit various sectors of society, only those that have to do with the haredi community will be called "extortion."

Katz knows this well. If he fights for the railway construction to take place on Shabbat and Netanyahu works to push it to another day, the prime minister will be the one to find himself standing on the wrong side of things. All the criticism will be directed at him. After all, aside from the haredi newspapers, no one is likely to praise Netanyahu for working to observe Shabbat -- one of Judaism's strongest symbols -- rather, they will see him as someone who capitulates to the ultra-Orthodox parties.

But this time, Katz pushed his already strained relationship with Netanyahu to the limit. From the prime minister's point of view, Katz already tried to orchestrate a putsch once with the Likud secretariat, and now he is undermining the stability of the coalition with a planned, unnecessary crisis. A thread pulled too tightly will ultimately snap. We will soon find out whether or not we have reached that point.