Israel’s High Court of Justice on Tuesday, 17 Tammuz 5773 accepted an appeal submitted by Kobi Brenner calling on the court to compel Tel Aviv City Hall to close the branches of the AM:PM and Tiv Tam Convenience stores in the city on Shabbos. The court understood that City Hall

Brenner explained to Channel 2 TV that he wants equality between the bigger businesses that can afford the fines and open on Shabbos and businesses such as his, the small guy. The little merchant however he explains cannot afford to pay fines.

Brenner adds that “I do not want to be a criminal and if the law compels closing a store on Shabbos, then this too is part of the battle for equality and all stores must close”.

Brenner, who describes himself as “traditional” made a point of stating he is fasting on 17 Tammuz when he spoke with Channel 2 News. He feels that the law compelling the closing of grocery stores on Shabbos is not religious coercion but more accurately social coercion, which he welcomes.

Meretz’s Nitzan Horowitz, a Tel Aviv mayoral candidate adds the court is correct and if this is the law, the law must apply equally to all stores. He adds that if the law is changed then there will be a new reality but for now, the small business owners in Tel Aviv are being wiped out by City Hall fines while the businesses that can afford to pay the fines are doing a brisk business on Shabbos.

Horowitz feels that Shabbos must be preserved as a day of rest but there must be modifications to accommodate the citizens who wish it. He feels that whatever the case may be there must be one law for all and if grocery stores and convenience stores are prohibited from opening, the law must be enforced across the board equally.

Brenner added that the Shas minister who was responsible for these matters in the last administration simply threw him out, unwilling to address the Tel Aviv reality, which he insists in unacceptable. Brenner adds that store owners “don’t want to be slaves and don’t want to work Shabbos” and that is why he and his colleagues are working towards enforcement of the closure laws. He does not want Horowitz to change this for if he does, small store owners will be compelled to open to survive the competition and then they will not have any days off.

Horowitz adds “When I am elected mayor I will work to change the Shabbos reality to certain stores to open without compromising the Shabbos environment for those wishing it. Small businesses will be permitted to open, unlike today when they do it in defiance of the law.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)