Bus Line Yields to Zealots; End to Demonstrations Promised

The Egged Bus Cooperative, yielding to demands by religious zealots, agreed last night not to open its Jerusalem terminal before the close of the Sabbath. In return, it was promised that there would be no more demonstrations such as the stone-throwing melees that erupted last Saturday and Sunday. The agreement was reached at a meeting between Egged representatives and three Orthodox rabbis–Menachem Porush, Shearyashuv Cohen and Yaacov Katzenelson. The meeting was called by Jerusalem Police Chief Daniel Bareli. It was not attended by Rabbi Amram Blau, of the extremist Neturei Karta group, who was the principal agitator and inciter to violence against the busses. A spokesman for the bus company said later. “We made certain concessions to the religious group because it is not our job to get involved in a war between the religious and secular sectors of the population.”