Herzliya Mayor Moshe Fadlon has put the tefillin matter to rest by meeting with the city’s Chabad Shaliach, Rabbi Rali Halprin in the city main Beit Chabad, and put on tefilin.

The mayor was accompanied by his deputy, Mrs. Maya Katz and Shas Chairman in the city Moshe Vaknin as well as a number of aides and city officials.

The mayor announced he is sorry over the unfortunate incident that took place, giving his backing to continued Chabad activities in his city. He had words of praise for ongoing Chabad activities in the city. Chabad officials were impressed that the mayor himself felt the need to take the time to visit the Beit Chabad, put on tefilin and release his declarative message of support.

Last erev Shabbos, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Amiti, a shaliach in the city, was putting tefilin on passers-by when a city inspector fined him 730 shekels for harassing the public. The actions of the municipal inspector elicited the ire of many and the incident went viral in Israel.

The Municipality originally responded by saying, “It is the duty of the Herzliya Municipality to ensure the freedom of movement of every person in the public sphere and to prevent disturbance and harassment” but after elected officials became involved and the incident gained momentum in social media, the mayor decided to visit the Beit Chabad and put on tefilin.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)