Kavim () is an Israeli bus company based in

Holon Holon ( he, חוֹלוֹן ) is a city on the central coastal strip of Israel, south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan Gush Dan area. In it had a population of . Holon has the second-largest industrial zone in Israel, after Haifa ...

. It was founded in 2000 and provided lines in the eastern Gush Dan region - the towns/cities Kiryat Ono,

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Jews of the Old Yishuv, and became a permanent set ...

Or Yehuda Or Yehuda ( he, אוֹר יְהוּדָה, ar, أور يهوده ) is a town in the Tel Aviv District of Gush Dan, Israel. In it had a population of . History Prehistory Human settlement back to the Chalcolithic has been found on the site.

, Givatayim and others. In February 2005, Kavim expanded to the north, where it started providing bus lines in

Afula Afula ( he, עפולה Arabic: العفولة) is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of , the city had a population of . Afula's ancient ...

Bet She'an Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is b ...

and the

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

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. In 2011, the bus company

Illit Illit Transport Ltd. ( he, עילית קווי תחבורה בע"מ) was an Israeli bus company that operated in Beitar Illit. Illit was merged into Kavim in 2011, but Illit is still used as a brand for the Beitar Illit routes. According to its ...

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 The Valley of Elah or Ella Valley ("the valley of the terebinth"; from the he, עמק האלה ''Emek HaElah''), called in ar, وادي السنط, Wadi es-Sunt, is a long, shallow valley in Israel and the West Bank best known as the place de ...

and

Beitar Illit Beitar Illit ( he, בֵּיתָר עִלִּית; officially Betar Illit; "Illit" is pronounced "ee-leet"; ar, بيتار عيليت) is an Haredi Jewish-Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, sou ...

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

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 stated 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.

Criticism

Involvement in Israeli settlements

On 12 February 2020, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

published a

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases ...

of companies doing business related in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, including

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separ ...

, as well as in the occupied

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

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

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

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

References

External links

Official websitebus routes
{{Transportation in Israel Bus companies of Israel