Residents Seize New Community Building in Modiin Illit Over Broken Synagogue Promise

Last Friday, residents of the Gan Hadassim neighborhood in Modiin Illit occupied a new public building in protest against what they describe as a blatant breach of commitment by the city authorities. The residents claim that Mayor Yaakov Guterman had promised to allocate space within the new community center for a neighborhood synagogue but later retracted this pledge.

The protest stems from a severe shortage of synagogues in the area, with no permanent synagogue currently available on Reshva and Meiri streets. Worshippers are forced to use a temporary caravan occupying about ten parking spaces. Approximately 500 families in the neighborhood have standing orders dedicated to establishing a synagogue.

According to reports, the municipality initially planned to allocate suitable space for the synagogue above the kindergarten floors in the new building but later withdrew this offer, proposing instead a partial solution limited to the third floor. Residents rejected this proposal, arguing it fails to meet the needs of hundreds of families.

The takeover was approved by leading rabbinical authorities, including Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, who instructed participants to remove furniture from the building after the Sabbath and return it to the caravan. This incident adds to ongoing tensions, as weeks earlier residents protested the city’s decision to assign the educational building to an institution unrelated to local girls, who must study outside the area. There are also complaints that the complex was previously allocated to the Karlin Hasidic group despite their limited presence in the neighborhood.

Residents express frustration that three years of appeals have yielded no resolution. They vow to continue their protest until the municipality fulfills its promise to provide adequate synagogue space. The Modiin Illit municipality has not yet responded to requests for comment.