Ultra-Orthodox step up pressure to force
grocery stores in Jewish localities to close on Shabbat, some two weeks
after court approves relaxed bylaw in Tel Aviv • Interior Minister Aryeh
Deri: Court ruling based on technicality; must be revisited.
Yehuda Shlezinger - Israel Hayom
Many Tel Aviv groceries will
remain open on Shabbat as a result of a court ruling
|
Photo credit: Gideon Markowicz
Some two weeks after the High Court of Justice
approved a Tel Aviv bylaw allowing more commercial activity on Shabbat,
a day when Jewish law mandates rest, ultra-Orthodox parties vowed
Wednesday to fight the ruling.
Speaking with the haredi radio station Kol
Chai, Health Minister Yakov Litzman said haredi lawmakers met with Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his office and discussed the matter. "We
made it clear that we are not going to relent on this issue; we are
going to pass a law [banning commerce on Shabbat] that will include Tel
Aviv," Litzman said.
The Tel Aviv bylaw allows some 160 grocery
stores to remain open on Shabbat. The bylaw replaced a blanket
prohibition on supermarkets and grocery stores, which was only
selectively enforced. That ban was criticized because it created a
situation in which vendors who were open for business on Shabbat
essentially got away by paying a fine, allowing big chains to absorb the
blow while hurting small businesses
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Justice Elyakim
Rubinstein instructed the state to respond to a request for an
additional hearing on the matter. The request was made by a coalition of
small businesses that want to keep the old ban and ensure that it is
properly enforced.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who said he
opposed the new bylaw, said Wednesday that the court should hold another
hearing. "It is essential; it is the right thing to do," he said. Deri
said that the court ignored the fact that he had already struck down the
bylaw using his ministerial prerogative.
"The fact of the matter is that I signed an
order to strike down the bylaw before the ruling was issued," he said.
"It is important that this matter be decided according to the merits of
the case rather than on a technicality."
Deri further said that the government "is of the belief that another hearing with an extended panel should be held."
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