Jerusalem councilmen affiliated with Yahadut Hatorah have turned to Mayor Nir Barkat calling upon him to prevent the opening of stores in the old train station, at the beginning of Derech Hebron on shabbos as planned.

The councilmen sent an urgent letter to the mayor, expressing their outrage over planned defiance of the city’s religious status quo and the mayor’s willingness to “trample kedushas shabbos”.

The councilmen fear that this unprecedented move will result in widespread chilul shabbos, pointing out that while stores have opened in the past, there has never been a situation in which the mayor of the capital openly supported and endorsed the opening of stores in the city on shabbos.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)