Battle over shuttering Jerusalem shops on Shabbat intensifies

Ultra-Orthodox councilmen in the Jerusalem Municipality on Thursday called for the closure of all businesses in the city on Shabbat, as businesses said they would fight an order for them to close amid swirling religious-secular tensions over the character of Israel’s capital.

The three council members, from the United Torah Judaism faction, were Deputy Mayor Yossi Deitsch, Shlomo Rosenstein and Yitzhak Pindrus. They sent a letter to the municipality’s legal adviser Eli Malka, in which they requested that he state explicitly that a municipal bylaw forbidding the opening of businesses on Saturdays in the center of the city would be enforced in other areas of Jerusalem as well.

The letter was an apparent reaction to the appeal of eight business owners in the city center against the decision by Mayor Nir Barkat to enforce the municipal bylaw. Barkat’s decision has angered shopkeepers who accuse officials of caving in to pressure from ultra-Orthodox Jews.

The eight store owners received letters this week informing them that their shops were subject to enforcement of the closure law, according to which dining and entertainment venues can remain open on Shabbat in Jerusalem, while establishments that engage in regular commerce cannot.

While the law in question has existed since 1955, it has only been selectively enforced over the years. The move to tighten enforcement came after a new cinema complex announced plans to open on Saturdays, drawing ultra-Orthodox protests.

Einav Bar, a Jerusalem councilwoman in charge of promoting businesses, told AFP the owners of the eight downtown businesses planned to challenge the city in court over the closure orders.

“There is no explanation to the new policy other than a political deal” between Barkat and ultra-Orthodox factions, Bar wrote on her Facebook page.

The Jerusalem municipality, however, insisted it was acting in line with a court ruling to reinforce the prohibition on Shabbat trading.

Enforcement would be “enhanced” in areas such as central Jerusalem and ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods, and less stringent elsewhere.

“There is no change in the law or the longstanding status quo in Jerusalem, according to which cinemas, entertainment venues and restaurants are allowed to work on the Sabbath, while businesses and public transportation are prohibited,” it said.

At least one Jerusalem store owner has vowed to stay open on Shabbat.

“I do not intend to close the store. I learned that in Tel Aviv the fine is 730 shekels,” said Gideon Sivoni, whose store has been open on Shabbat for 20 years.

Sivoni added that he had not previously received closure notices and that the law was not enforced in the past.

Sivoni said that he has not had any problems with the ultra-Orthodox community. “Our relations are fine, and in my opinion, in the Haredi community everyone is not in agreement with what happened today.”

Meretz head Zahava Gal-on slammed the new policy on Wednesday, and accused Barkat of infringing on the rights of secular Jerusalem residents in an attempt to “placate” the ultra-Orthodox community’s ire over the decision to allow the newly built YES Planet cinema complex to open on Shabbat.

“Nir Barkat decided to punish secular Jerusalemites and owners of stores that are still open on Shabbat in the center of town — stores that serve primarily the secular people and the many tourists [in Jerusalem], and for whom a significant part of their income is earned on Shabbat,” she said.

“You crushed the right to freedom from religion of the free secular community,” Gal-on continued. “In my view, there is only one emotion invoked by Barkat’s blatant infringement on businesses and the freedoms of the public that elected him: shame.”

The letter sent to business owners stated that there would be strict enforcement in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, the Jewish quarter of the Old City and parts of the center of town. Meanwhile, enforcement would be reduced in secular neighborhoods Ein Karem, Talpiot, Atarot and the southwestern parts of the city.

The City Council’s announcement came four days after thousands of ultra-Orthodox men took to the streets to demand the closure of the new movie theater complex.

The council denied the new decision was connected to the demonstration, saying it was already agreed to a month ago, and came after a High Court ruling ordering enforcement of existing laws demanding that shops be shuttered in Tel Aviv on the day of rest.

Josefin Dolsten and Avi Lewis contributed to this report.