Israeli Minister resigns over railway Sabbath desecration

Israel’s Health Minister Yaakov Litzman , who heads a powerful ultra-Orthodox political party in Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, has resigned after the country’s railways carried out maintenance work on the Sabbath, which is strictly prohibited by Jewish law.

Ultra-Orthodox parties have provided Mr. Netanyahu with support to stabilize his coalition, while the government carves out large budgets for their community.

Mr. Litzman said on Sunday that he resigned because of public violations of the holy day. He said the weekend maintenance work on the railway was not warranted.

It’s not clear how this impacts Mr. Netanyahu’s government as Mr. Litzman’s party, United Torah Judaism, is remaining in the coalition.