Court’s Sabbath Ruling Provokes Battles in Knesset and on Streets

The battle between ultra-Orthodox and secular Jews over mandatory enforcement of Sabbath observance in Jerusalem did not end when a local court ruled last week that a city ordinance forbidding the opening of movie theaters on Friday nights was invalid.

The fight has been taken by the Orthodox to the Knesset, the Cabinet and into the streets. Given the delicate balance of Israeli coalition politics, the victory won by Jerusalem’s non-observant community may be short-lived.

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews disrupted traffic Monday on Jaffa Road, one of the main arteries of the capital, in a mass demonstration against Sabbath desecration. They recited prayers of mourning and waved signs reading “Observe the Sabbath” and “The KGB has come to Israel.”

One of them told a reporter that “the court ruling has proven to us once again to what extent Zionism conflicts with the Torah.”

The two chief rabbis, Avraham Shapiro (Ashkenazic) and Mordechai Eliahu (Sephardic) fiercely denounced the court’s decision at a gathering of rabbis affiliated with the National Religious Party in Jerusalem. They said the situation has become intolerable and if not rectified, the NRP could not remain in the government.

The possibility of a coalition crisis arising from the court decision was the reason for consultations held this week between the religious parties and both Premier Yitzhak Shamir and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, the leaders of Likud and the Labor Party respectively.

A CHANGE IN ‘STATUS QUO’?

Both men reportedly assured their religious coalition partners that they would not permit any change of “the status quo” in the country. The “status quo” refers to an unwritten agreement dating from the founding of the state which tries to maintain a balance between individual rights and enforcement of religious laws and customs. Orthodox and secular Jews have each accused the other, over the years, of trying to undermine the status quo.

Religious Affairs Minister Zevulun Hammer of the NRP said Monday that he found a willingness by both Labor and Likud to preserve the status quo. He told Voice of Israel radio that legislation would be enacted soon to allow local municipalities to impose religious bylaws.

The ruling by the municipal court last week was that the imposition of restrictions on individual rights could be decreed only by the Knesset, not the City Council. Shamir said Monday that if Knesset legislation was needed, he would support it.

Meanwhile, new friction has developed between the Orthodox community and the Jerusalem police. Police Chief Yosef Yehudai told the Knesset Interior Committee Monday that the police intend to bring charges against City Council member Meir Porush of the Agudat Israel party for his involvement in a violent demonstration by ultra-Orthodox Jews on Nov. 21, a Saturday.

The matter was raised in the committee by a bloc of religious Knesset members, including Rabbi Menahem Porush, father of the councilman. They complained of police brutality, charging that Orthodox M.K.S and City Council members were beaten by police and treated “brutally and in a humiliating manner.”

But Yehudai insisted the police used only minimum force to quell the rioting by Orthodox Jews, which threatened to disrupt traffic on roads adjacent to the religious neighborhoods.

He said there was a “good case” against Councilman Porush “for illegal assembly, disturbance of public order and hindering a police officer in carrying out his duty.”