Opposition MK asks police to clear Arad shelters being used as synagogues

By Ariela Karmel

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22 March 2026, 3:15 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Security and rescue forces at the scene where a missile fired from Iran at Israel caused damage to residential buildings and injured civilians in the southern Israel city of Arad, March 22, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Yesh Atid MK Naor Shiri is demanding that police tighten oversight of public bomb shelters and bar their use for non-emergency purposes following footage of Arad Mayor Yair Maayan earlier this month insisting that shelters in the city be used as synagogues even amid the war with Iran.

Arad was one of two cities hit by Iranian missiles Saturday night where scores were injured, many of whom were outside shelters.

Shiri writes in a letter to Israel Police Commissioner Danny Levy that “it has been reported that in dual-use shelters used as synagogues, entry has not been permitted to residents who are not part of the congregation at non-prayer times.”

The opposition lawmaker notes that while “dual-use shelters” are often used for “community or religious purposes, including as a synagogue” during periods of calm, when an emergency situation is declared in the city, such as the ongoing war with Iran, the shelters must be “cleared immediately” and be “accessible and suitable for all residents.”

Shiri’s letter follows widely circulated footage of Maayan at a March 6 city council meeting — one week into the war with Iran — in which he insists that bomb shelters will be used as synagogues even during an emergency, in apparent violation of Home Front Command guidelines.

In the video, after a council member complains that shelters in the city were being used as synagogues, Maayan aggressively responds by asserting, “Every available shelter in Arad will be a synagogue and anyone who speaks against a synagogue is an antisemite!”