Egged Under Fire for Labeling Judea and Samaria as “West Bank” in New Travel App

Egged, Israel’s largest public transportation company, rolled out a new mobile app this week that lets passengers digitally load and validate their travel cards — a major technological step forward for the company.

But shortly after its release, the human rights group B’Tsalmo discovered that the app refers to areas in Judea and Samaria as the “West Bank,” sparking outrage from the organization’s leadership.

Following the discovery, B’Tsalmo CEO Shai Glick sent a formal letter to Egged on Monday morning, demanding that the company immediately amend the terminology.

While expressing appreciation for Egged’s modernization efforts, Glick stressed that “the use of the term ‘West Bank’ instead of ‘Judea and Samaria’ is a fundamental error, both historically and in terms of public sentiment.” He went on to say that many Israelis regard towns such as Shiloh, Beit El, and Hebron as an inseparable part of the nation’s ancient and modern identity.

In his letter, Glick pointed out that “Judea and Samaria” is the term officially recognized in Israeli law and increasingly used in international discussions, including by U.S. officials. He also referenced a directive issued by incoming Shin Bet chief David Zini, who instructed his agency to use “Judea and Samaria” as the standard term.

Glick further emphasized that Egged has long operated in these regions and has supported their residents even during difficult times — sometimes at great cost, noting the deadly terror attack that targeted one of its buses in the city of Emanuel.

Egged has not issued a response to the complaint.

HopOn, the company that developed the app, explained: “The maps in the app are based on Google Maps services and are not created or maintained by us. The region names appear as defined in global systems. Our goal is to provide users with accurate and up-to-date for navigation and location purposes only.”

{Matzav.com}