Kavim () is an Israeli bus company based in Holon. It was founded in 2000 and provided lines in the eastern Gush Dan region - the towns/cities Kiryat Ono,

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...

, Or Yehuda, Givatayim and others. In February 2005, Kavim expanded to the north, where it started providing bus lines in Afula, Bet She'an and the

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

area. In 2006, more routes are planned in Petah Tikva and Rosh HaAyin. Many of Kavim's current routes were transferred from the

Dan Bus Company Dan Bus Company () is an Israeli bus company based in Tel Aviv. It operates local bus service in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area (Gush Dan). Dan operates 1,200 buses and has 2,400 employees. It transports approximately over 600,000 passengers d ...

. In 2011, the bus company Illit was merged with Kavim. In 2012, Kavim won the tender for the Heshmonaim cluster which includes the cities Ramla, Lod and Modi'in, and the tender for cluster of regional bus routes in the Netanya Hadera area. Kavim started the operate the routes in both clusters in 2013. In 2015, Kavim's bus routes in Afula were transferred to Superbus bus company. In 2017 Kavim won the tender of the Valley of Elah and Beitar Illit cluster that contains routes that Kavim currently operates and few routes of Superbus in the Beit Shemesh area. Kavim has a fleet of 300 vehicles and a workforce of 450. Kavim's current chief executive officer is Zion Pat.

Ridership by sector

In 2017, each sector had the following annual ridership:

Controversies and criticism

Kavim's service has often been criticized, especially in

. In April 2008, Avi Blustein, a member of the city council, proposed to create a committee which would inspect Kavim's operations within the city. Kavim responded that Blustein was 'hurting its good reputation out of political considerations'. In 2008, a Kavim driver was arrested for dealing drugs on his bus routes. Kavim said in response that this did not reflect the company or its drivers. On October 6, 2010, 30 buses belonging to Kavim in Afula were taken out of service following a raid by the police, due to severe safety violations, ranging from broken seats to worn out tires.

Involvement in Israeli settlements

On 12 February 2020, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

published a

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

of companies doing business related in the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, including

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

, as well as in the occupied

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

. Kavim was listed on the database on account of its activities in

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

s in these occupied territories, which are considered illegal under international law.

References

External links

Official website

bus routes
{{Transportation in Israel Bus companies of Israel