Activists set to open Shabbat coffee truck at site where Jerusalem cafe buckled to Haredi protests

Liberal activists on Friday vowed to open a coffee cart on Shabbat at the site of a Jerusalem cafe that announced this week that it would no longer operate on the Jewish day of rest amid a weeks-long protest campaign by ultra-Orthodox demonstrators.

The activists from the Hitorerut party — a faction in the Jerusalem municipality — said they were determined not to give in to Haredi religious coercion.

“We cannot allow extremists to force upon us religious wars that Jerusalemites have grown out of,” Adir Schwartz, head of Hitorerut, told the Israel Hayom daily.

Cafe Basimta said Thursday that the decision to close, starting this weekend, “was made after prolonged deliberation and with a heavy heart, out of a desire to prevent and calm the anger and restore peace to the cafe.”

The cafe has been the scene of sometimes violent protests by members of the ultra-Orthodox community who oppose work on the Sabbath. Counterprotesters have rallied in favor of the cafe staying open on Shabbat, with police on the scene to minimize friction between the two sides.

Hitorerut said the coffee cart will be operated by volunteers so that “Jerusalemites can continue to drink coffee on Shabbat.”

The organizers said they have launched a campaign to raise funds that would keep the cart operating long term and that the coffee and pastries will be supplied by another company and not Cafe Basimta. The organizers said they were also focused on security for the cart against potential riots by Haredi protesters.

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Yosi Havilio said it was important to keep businesses operating on Shabbat. He called the decision by Cafe Basimta to close one that “will harm our efforts to keep the city liberal.”

“It’s a slippery slope. If the Haredim see that every time they don’t like something, they can resort to violence and it will be resolved, we will end up in a difficult situation,” he told Army Radio.

Separately, he told Israel Hayom that he planned to meet with the cafe owners in the coming days “to convince them to reverse their decision.”

Even before the announcement of the coffee truck, it appeared the site would continue to be a point of friction in the city.

The cafe is an official project of Jews for Jesus, a Christian missionary organization that seeks to convert Jews to believe in Jesus.

On Thursday, the Haredi anti-missionary organization Yad Le’Achim vowed in a statement to keep picketing the cafe until it closes entirely.

Haredi demonstrators have protested outside the cafe almost every Saturday since it opened in June on Agripas Street, where no other cafes open on Shabbat.

Jerusalem has become increasingly Orthodox over the years, driving out large segments of its secular population.

The clashes at the cafe came amid broader tensions between secular and religious communities on the issue of Haredi military service, with violent Haredi protests against conscription often held in Jerusalem.

Zev Stub contributed to this report.