Interior Ministry Warns Ramat HaSharon to Enforce Sabbath-Closure Rules at Big Fashion Glilot

Interior Ministry Director General Israel Ozan sent a sharp letter to Ramat HaSharon Municipality, saying the city must enforce its existing bylaw that bans businesses from opening on Shabbat, with special focus on the Big Fashion Glilot complex. The letter was sent as part of the municipality’s request to amend the bylaw on opening businesses during weekly rest days, a step meant to regulate the mall’s operations.

Ozan said the current bylaw remains fully in force and that until the interior minister formally approves any amendment, the local authority must act only according to the law as it stands. In its formal reply to the city’s legal adviser, the ministry raised a series of professional and substantive questions about the proposed bylaw, including how broad the requested openings would be, which specific businesses would be allowed to operate, and what essential public need those businesses would serve.

He also asked the city to provide the factual basis for its decision and the internal staff work used to shape the proposed arrangement. Ozan strongly criticized the municipality’s claim that the amendment merely aligns the law with reality on the ground, arguing that a legal change cannot be built on a situation created by ongoing violations and lack of enforcement. He wrote, “If the purpose of the amendment is to align the legal situation with the prevailing reality, it follows that, apparently, the actual situation, born of a violation of the law, dictated and shaped the proposed arrangement.”

He added that there is no room to accept a “wrongful situation in which the sinner benefits.” Ozan concluded that the municipality’s answers so far are insufficient, and said that if Ramat HaSharon wants to keep advancing the bylaw review, it must submit updated data, full preparatory work, and detailed responses to all the ministry’s questions. He ended by stressing that until the bylaw is approved by the interior minister, it has no effect and cannot be applied.