JERUSALEM—An Israeli school bus driver was suspended for making racist statements to Ethiopian children.

The driver’s comments were recorded during a bus ride and played for a school principal and the absorption center manager, Haaretz reported Wednesday. The route includes taking students from the immigrant absorption center in Mevaseret Zion to schools in the Jerusalem area.

Reportedly the driver called the children “smelly” and said that “You will never change, you stay the same s— all the time.”

At a hearing within the bus company, the driver reportedly apologized and said that he acted the way he did because the Ethiopian children frequently vandalize his bus.

The incident comes on the heels of a demonstration by thousands of protesters Wednesday night in Jerusalem against racism and discrimination against Ethiopians.