Big Glilot keeps operating on Shabbat as court weighs enforcement order

Big Glilot in Ramat HaSharon continues to operate on Saturdays despite a recent push by Israel’s Interior Ministry to enforce the city bylaw and issue fines to businesses that open on Shabbat. For now, no field enforcement has taken place, no tickets have been handed out, and the stores remain open with visitors still arriving.

The dispute escalated last week when the Interior Ministry director general sent an unusual letter to the Ramat HaSharon mayor demanding that the municipal bylaw be enforced against businesses operating in violation of existing rules. Even after that request, the complex has not been fined.

The issue is now before the courts. A hearing is scheduled for Monday on a petition against the Ramat HaSharon municipality, arguing that it is refusing to enforce the law even though the activity is occurring openly. The petitioners say that without fines, the municipal bylaw has no practical meaning, and they want the court to order the city to begin enforcing it.

The hearing comes after months of public and political conflict over the shopping center’s Saturday opening. The Interior Ministry says the law must be enforced, while the municipality says its enforcement resources are directed first toward serious offenses and matters that significantly harm public order. The city said its policy gives priority to offenses that endanger lives or seriously affect public order, and only afterward to other municipal violations. It also said that this position was presented to the Interior Ministry and the court. The municipality added that the city council recently approved, by a large majority, an amended version of the municipal bylaw that it says reflects the city’s way of life and the wishes of most residents.