School bus security in Israel

Because of the precious cargo that school buses carry, security is a vital concern for the pupil transportation industry.

Accordingly, the April/May issue of SBF (which is mailing out this week and can also be viewed in digital form here) includes features on school bus security training and two-way radios, among other topics.

While our industry trains and prepares for the possibility of a security threat, we can also reflect on how fortunate we in the U.S. are to not be subjected to the perpetual hazards that people in some other areas of the world live with.

This came to mind upon learning of a school bus in Israel being struck by an anti-tank missile on Thursday. There was only one passenger on the bus at the time, but that 16-year-old boy was critically injured.

The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the Kornet missile used by Palestinian group Hamas in the attack has a warhead capable of penetrating the armor of a modern tank, meaning a bus stands no chance against it.

“Though [the missile] hit the rear of the bus, it injured the driver and young passenger in the front,” the ministry reported. “It was a miracle that the dozens of other children who had disembarked only minutes before were not killed, in what could have been the worst large-scale massacre of Israeli schoolchildren in years.”

The ministry also noted that in contrast to the usual low-tech mortar and rockets, the advanced Kornet missile that was deployed is laser-guided and always hits the specific objective chosen by its operator.

“The terrorist who activated this weapon clearly saw the yellow school bus, which travels the same route in Israel every day,” the ministry said.

Hamas said its operatives targeted the bus but didn’t know that it carried schoolchildren.

The school bus driver, Zion Yamini, told The Jerusalem Post that he has long feared an attack on his bus. After the missile struck, he was able to pull the bus over and carry his passenger to safety.

“I said to myself, you need all your strength so that you can get this child out so that he won’t burn to death on the bus,” Yamini told the news source. “I got up and I don’t know from where I got the strength. I picked up the boy and I was able to place him on my back.”

The boy was reportedly still clinging to life in a hospital as of Tuesday.

On a related note, if you’re interested in learning more about Hamas and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general, I highly recommend the book Son of Hamas. The author, Mosab Hassan Yousef, is the son of one of the Hamas founders.

After being captured and imprisoned by the Israelis, Yousef became a spy for Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, helping to catch numerous terrorists and thwart attacks. Along the way, Yousef also became a Christian. He eventually sought asylum in the U.S., where he still lives.

Some may consider the book controversial, but regardless of your political leanings, it offers unprecedented insight into Hamas, which the U.S. and the European Union classify as a terrorist organization.

— Thomas McMahon, executive editor

An update: The boy who was critically injured when the missile hit the school bus died on Sunday, April 17, about a week and a half after the attack.