Popular Tel Aviv food market faces closure over lax security
Sarona’s management insists compound will stay open, security gaps have been fixed and watchmen company has been axed
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Israeli police moved on Sunday to close down the upscale Sarona Market at the center of Tel Aviv over fears that the commercial center was not sufficiently secure, but the site’s management said it would stay open.
The popular compound is home to Israel’s largest indoor culinary market. Its 8,700 square meters (93,000 square feet) of market space hosts 91 shops of all varieties.
The police asked the Tel Aviv Municipality to revoke Sarona’s business license, arguing that lax security put the visiting public at risk.
In a letter addressed to the head of business licensing at the Tel Aviv municipality, Ayelet Wasserman, the police wrote: “We request that the police authorization for the Sarona Market be canceled. The cancellation of the license is due to grave security findings that point to possible life-threatening conditions.”
The letter also claimed that managers at the market had been switched without informing the proper authorities, according to a report by Channel 10.
The management of the market said it took immediate action to allay the police concerns and would not be shutting down the site.
“A routine police examination found a number of security deficiencies that have been corrected, while at the same time the security firm has been fired,” management said in a statement to Channel 10.
“The market will continue to operate as usual,” the statement said.
The Times of Israel Community.