Petach Tikvah Mayor Rami Greenberg has given the okay to open the renovated city indoor swimming poll on Shabbos, a pool located in the heart of a religious neighborhood. The move comes despite ongoing efforts by area rabbonim to prevent the pool’s operation on Shabbos, as the newly-elected mayor has a different agenda.

The pool is located in the Hadar Ganim neighborhood, and with the mayor’s backing, it is scheduled to open on Shabbos despite the objections of the rabbonim from all the different communities in the area. In fact, the rabbonim are urging their respective communities to boycott the pool, instructing them not to register for memberships, a move that has Greenberg angered. In an interview with Reshet Bet Radio, the mayor expressed his anger over the boycott, adding, “Those who boycott the pool and cause the city fiscal damage should not come and request budgets for projects and yeshivos ben hazmanim”.

Interestingly, Kikar Shabbos News reports that it received a copy of a letter in which the mayor contradicts himself, for in the letter, he expresses his support for closing the pool on Shabbos.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)