link:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-landmark-ruling-high-court-says-tel-aviv-mini-markets-can-open-on-sabbath/
excerpt:
Israeli law forbids businesses from operating during the Jewish day of rest, with exceptions including places of entertainment, restaurants and basic services such as pharmacies.
Tel Aviv, home to a mostly secular population, has sought to widen the scope of businesses allowed to be open on Shabbat, while ultra-Orthodox political factions have sought to add restrictions and improve enforcement of Shabbat laws.
The issue, which has pitted secular and religious politicians against each other, has been festering since March 2014. At that time, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality drafted a new bylaw after the Supreme Court ordered it to either replace or enforce existing regulations against Shabbat commerce.
The municipality suggested allowing 164 grocery stores and kiosks measuring 500 square meters in size or less to open on Shabbat.
The issue ultimately reached the High Court after three successive interior ministers — Deri from Shas, and Likud’s Silvan Shalom and Gideon Saar — refused to rule on the matter.
High Court President Miriam Naor wrote that the ruling applied to a very limited number of the city’s businesses and would allow the unique character of the Shabbat to be preserved. On Wednesday, the three justices threw out a government request for an extension of time and ruled that the Tel Aviv-Jaffa bylaw on the issue was proportional.
Justice Esther Hayut wrote that in light of the failure of the ministers to act during the last two and a half years “there‘s no way to avoid seeing this avoidance as a kind of decision to deny, without explanation, the bylaws of Tel Aviv-Jaffa.”
Zehava Galon, leader of the left-wing Meretz Party, welcomed the ruling as an “important ratification of the authority of Tel Aviv’s residents to decide by themselves in a democratic way and of the authority of the municipality to pass bylaws in response.”
She added that reason had triumphed over those wishing to create a theocratic state in Israel, Haaretz reported.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-landmark-ruling-high-court-says-tel-aviv-mini-markets-can-open-on-sabbath/
excerpt:
Israeli law forbids businesses from operating during the Jewish day of rest, with exceptions including places of entertainment, restaurants and basic services such as pharmacies.
Tel Aviv, home to a mostly secular population, has sought to widen the scope of businesses allowed to be open on Shabbat, while ultra-Orthodox political factions have sought to add restrictions and improve enforcement of Shabbat laws.
The issue, which has pitted secular and religious politicians against each other, has been festering since March 2014. At that time, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality drafted a new bylaw after the Supreme Court ordered it to either replace or enforce existing regulations against Shabbat commerce.
The municipality suggested allowing 164 grocery stores and kiosks measuring 500 square meters in size or less to open on Shabbat.
The issue ultimately reached the High Court after three successive interior ministers — Deri from Shas, and Likud’s Silvan Shalom and Gideon Saar — refused to rule on the matter.
High Court President Miriam Naor wrote that the ruling applied to a very limited number of the city’s businesses and would allow the unique character of the Shabbat to be preserved. On Wednesday, the three justices threw out a government request for an extension of time and ruled that the Tel Aviv-Jaffa bylaw on the issue was proportional.
Justice Esther Hayut wrote that in light of the failure of the ministers to act during the last two and a half years “there‘s no way to avoid seeing this avoidance as a kind of decision to deny, without explanation, the bylaws of Tel Aviv-Jaffa.”
Zehava Galon, leader of the left-wing Meretz Party, welcomed the ruling as an “important ratification of the authority of Tel Aviv’s residents to decide by themselves in a democratic way and of the authority of the municipality to pass bylaws in response.”
She added that reason had triumphed over those wishing to create a theocratic state in Israel, Haaretz reported.
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