Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

No buses, light rail for 14 days, US embassy in Israel tells staff, families post-bombings

“The security environment is complex and can change quickly,” warned the U.S. State Department.

Light rail Jerusalem
A light rail stop on Jaffa Road in downtown Jerusalem, Feb. 21, 2025. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

U.S. State Department staff members and their families in Jerusalem are barred from using public buses and light rails in Israel for two weeks “out of an abundance of caution,” the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem announced on Friday.

“The U.S. embassy reminds U.S. citizens of the continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness since attacks often take place without any warning,” it added. “The security environment is complex and can change quickly.”

Three buses exploded near Tel Aviv on Thursday, and bombs were found on two others in what is being investigated as a coordinated attack. No injuries were reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently ordered a “massive” counter-terrorism operation in response to the attacks.

“Just like we knocked them out again today, we’ll knock them out a lot harder and a lot more violently in the future if they don’t get their deal signed, fast,” President Donald Trump said.
“This is meant to make the job of the police and prosecutors easier,” Tara Cook-Littman, of the Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut, told JNS.
“No challenges were received during the public display period,” Shirley N. Weber’s office told JNS.
A 25-foot buffer zone around houses of worship would include a penalty for protesters who breach it, though the state Assembly speaker said nothing has been agreed to yet.
“An event at a city-owned pool that was publicly and indiscriminately advertised as ‘whites only’ would surely violate the Constitution,” the executive director of the state Public Safety Office wrote. “The same must be true here.”
The gift from the Jan Koum Family Foundation is expected to triple the size of the Jerusalem hospital.