Merkavim

Additional Details

Merkavim is the largest bus manufacturing company in Israel. They produce many different types of buses, including tourism coaches, urban buses, long-distance buses and minibuses. In addition to this, they also provide specialist buses, such as bullet-proof buses, prisoner-transport vehicles and VIP transport vehicles. The company was founded in 1946 and is jointly owned by Israeli vehicle-importer Mayer Cars and Trucks and by AB Volvo. On 12 February 2020, the United Nations published a database of companies doing business related in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in the Golan Heights. Merkavim was listed on the database on account of its activities in Israeli settlements in these territories, In collaboration with Israel Prison Service (IPS), Merkavim developed a specially designed prisoner transport vehicle based on its Mars model. Such buses are used by IPS to transport Palestinian prisoners inside the occupied West Bank and from the West Bank to Israeli prisons within the Green Line.