The Aguda Israel demanded an immediate halt to the construction of a new sports stadium near a heavily Orthodox section of north Jerusalem and threatened to quit May or Teddy Kollek’s City Council coalition unless Kollek announces forthwith that the stadium will not be built.
Kollek refused and, at a stormy Council meeting yesterday, the Aguda members said they would not sit at the same table with those who help “desecrate the Sabbath.” The Aguda faction leader, Rabbi Shmuel Shaulson, warned “There will be Jewish blood spilled.”
The two Orthodox factions, Aguda and Poole Aguda Israel, oppose the stadium because sports events are held on Saturdays, the only day off for most Israeli fans because they claim the traffic to and from the stadium would disturb the Sabbath observance of the local residents. Nevertheless, both factions joined the coalition, albeit under protest, and, according to Kollek, indicated that they would not take any action to block the actual construction. Work on the stadium has been proceeding at full-speed as Jerusalem presently has only two small sports arenas.
PRESSURED BY ULTRA-ORTHODOX
The two Aguda factions, which together hold only five seats in the 31-member Council, have become more militant on the stadium issue of late. Political observers say that although the factions themselves would prefer to remain in the coalition to preserve their considerable bargaining power over funding for religious institutions, they have come under mounting pressure from the increasingly assertive Ultra-Orthodox elements in the capital. Kollek himself is anxious to preserve his broad coalition.
He explained, at yesterday’s Council meeting, that “Just as I have to attend to the needs of the religious community, so do I have to assure that the needs of the secular community are covered.” He added, “I have tried for 13 years to keep the religious and secular communities in a spirit of co-existence. If the stadium issue leads to a break, it would be the toughest thing to happen in the city. I see this as a serious crisis,” the Mayor said.
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