An ultra-Orthodox minister in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government quit on Sunday in a dispute over work on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest. “I resign from my cabinet position as health minister,” Litzman wrote in his resignation letter, a copy of which was sent to AFP. The dispute is over railway maintenance work, which is less disruptive to travellers on the Sabbath, when no trains run. The national rail company says some Sabbath work is necessary in the interests of public safety and to avoid congestion on roads. “To my regret Israel Railways has lately made the Sabbath day national maintenance day,” he told Israeli army radio after handing in his resignation to the cabinet secretary.

Source: The Guardian November 26, 2017 10:41 UTC