The promoters of an international automobile race in Ashkelon accepted “compensation” in the amount of nearly $60,000 to reschedule the contest from yesterday to today, thereby meeting the demands of religious zealots who had threatened mass demonstrations against “desecration” of the Sabbath. The deal, which is already being widely criticized in Israel as a “pay off,” was negotiated by Mayor Oved Men Ami of Naibanya, who offered his services as mediator to his colleague, Mayor Rahavia Adivi of Ashkelon. Mayor Ben Ami said he couldn’t conceive of world-wide television carrying the spectacle of Orthodox Jews in prayer shawls wailing in the streets of Ashkelon, an image reminiscent of the Nazi era in Europe. The money, apparently raised in Orthodox quarters, compensates the sponsors of the race for the loss incurred by holding it on Sunday, an ordinary working day in Israel. Only about 10,000 of the expected 50,000 spectators showed up. Thousands of ticket-holders demanded refunds when the re-scheduling was announced.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
