The Tel Aviv Administrative court on Sunday afternoon, 11 Tammuz, ruled the Chabad “Moshiach in the Square” event would be held, with gender separation, as planned.

The court admonished the city for not providing Chabad representatives a meeting or hearing prior to ruling to outlaw the event because of planned gender separation. Chabad officials maintained the permit was given weeks in advance and there was no justification to cancel it just days before it takes place, leaving organizers without an alternative venue.

The city maintained that since it was not a religious event, gender-segregation is not permitted in a public venue, in this case, Rabin Square.

The court had harsh words for City Hall decision-makers and women’s rights organizations, insisting there was no affront to women’s rights by Chabad hosting a gender separated event in Rabin Square, but perhaps a bit of secular coercion. In short, Mayor Huldai of Tel Aviv received a class in democracy from the court.

However, the chairwoman of the extreme left-wing Meretz party, MK Tamar Zandberg, stated “I will in the near future propose a bill to forbid hosting gender-separated events in public venues.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)