Jerusalem City Hall has decided to work towards accommodating an Israel Police request, to provide additional parking in the City Hall area, near the Kosel, to accommodate the growing number of visitors on Shabbos.

City Hall has decided that accommodating the request will be a plus for the city, and as such, the Kikar Safra City Hall parking lot will be opened this Friday (Shavuos) and Shabbos morning.

The parking lot will open at 8:00am on Shabbos, and drivers leaving will be compelled to exit on Shiftei Yisrael Street. The parking lot will be operated by non-Jews and there will be no charge, to eliminate fear of chilul Shabbos, City Hall officials explain. In addition, elevators and automatic gates will not be operational.

The lot will be closed on Fridays in general, but this week, Shavuos, the lot will operate on Shabbos hours.
 
Other parking lots in the city will open under the same arrangement to accommodate visitors to the Old City and downtown Jerusalem. The Gan HaAtzma’ut and Mamilla parking lots will also be opened on Shabbos soon after the tender is filled for the operator of the service.
 
The word on the street is the Eida Chareidis does not plan to sit back and permit the parking lots to operate, a move that rabbonim insist will increase chilul Shabbos, providing motorists with free parking. As such, a major campaign to oppose the move is planned.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)