Israel Bus Company Pulls Ad - April 8, 2010

Egged, an Israeli public transportation company, has removed posters from the side of their buses that call for the building of the third Temple in Jerusalem.  The ads were removed because of complaints and threats of vandalism.

The advertising campaign, which began just before the Jewish holiday of Pessah, or Passover, placed posters on 200 Egged buses.  The posters featured an artist’s rendition of the Temple alongside the quote “May the Temple be rebuilt swiftly in our lifetime.”  The posters were placed on buses with routes through Jerusalem, including the eastern part of the city where the Arab quarter is located. 

The campaign was organized and sponsored by a group called “Our Land of Israel.”  A spokesman, Rabbi Shay Geffen, said that they would be suing Egged and Cnaan Advertising for breach of contract, to the tune of NIS 1 million (C$275,000).  The posters were pulled eight days before the end of the campaign.

The Rabbi stated “To our sorrow, Egged backed down to pressures from left-wing and Arab organizations. They didn’t even notify us that they were taking down the poster.  We might as well also remove all the Jewish holy books that call for the rebuilding of the Temple.  These are words that every Jew utters three times a day in their prayers. I’m surprised that an established company like Egged would react in this way.”

The bus company responded that they had no say in the matter, that these decisions are made by Cnaan Advertising, the firm in charge of renting out the spaces on the side of the buses. Deputy director Ohad Gably of Cnaan Advertising stated “After the campaign went up our office began receiving many requests from organizations and sectors demanding we remove the posters because they were hurtful. In some cases the requests verged on threats. To my regret and despite the financial losses the decision cost us, we were forced to remove the campaign after deciding that we had no intention to make matters worse and bring about the defacement of buses.” 

Our Land of Israel was founded in 2008 by Baruch Marzel and Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe, known to be on the far right of the Isreali political landscape. One of the group’s most controversial goals is the construction of a third Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, on the site where the first and second Temples once stood. The site currently houses the Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock and is regarded by Muslims as the third holiest site in Islam.

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