Satmar Hasidim Used Safed School Complex as Free Weekend Lodging, Prompting Police Intervention

Hundreds of Satmar Hasidim spent last weekend at the Tomer Devorah and Shirat Devorah school complex in Safed, apparently without city approval or the consent of local residents. According to the report, dozens of buses brought the group to the site, where they were treated like hotel guests, even though the complex does not have the required permits and is not connected to the power grid, relying instead on generators.

Social activist Natali Pitossi, who filmed the scene on Saturday afternoon, said electrical cables were lying on the ground and running from the generators into the buildings. She said the site lacked Form 4 approval, had previously been associated with the death of a worker who fell there, and showed clear signs of being noncompliant. Pitossi also told Radio North 104.5FM, “They were a crazy number. The place ran on generators. Hundreds. Everything ran on generators.”

Residents said the school compound sits on the main road leading to Safed’s southern exit, and that the Hasidim objected to cars passing by on Shabbat. They allegedly cursed drivers, threw objects at them, and created disturbances in the street. Police were called to the scene and told the visitors to return to the school grounds. Police said officers had to handle public disorder and disruption of a traffic route during Shabbat.

Pitossi said the group behaved as if the public buildings were private property, questioned where the money went, and claimed the site included caterers, waiters, and cleanup workers hired as Shabbat helpers. Safed municipality called the episode “a serious incident” requiring a thorough review, lessons learned, and briefing of all relevant officials so it would not happen again.