Tensions in Safed After Satmar Group’s Holiday Stay Sparks Resident Anger

Hundreds of families linked to the Satmar Hasidic community and the Edah HaChareidis spent last Shabbat in Safed, renting public buildings that normally serve as educational institutions. The arrangement, meant for a group vacation, triggered a major backlash in the city’s southern neighborhood after residents said the site generated serious noise, sanitation problems, and disruption to daily life.

According to local activists, industrial generators were brought in because the school buildings were not equipped for שבת electricity use, causing heavy noise throughout the stay. By the end of Shabbat, residents said the area was left covered with large piles of trash. Social activist Natalie Pitousi told Radio Tzafon 104.5FM that the buildings were hosting hundreds of families inside a girls’ seminary complex and argued, “The place operated on generators, meaning there is no form 4 there,” adding that the site appeared noncompliant and had previously seen a worker die after falling.

Pitousi also accused organizers of using public property without oversight, saying, “Someone is using Safed’s public buildings as if this were his private business,” and asked where the money went. She said people paid for the event, that catering and waiters were present, and that Arab workers served as “goy of Shabbat.” She stressed that the criticism was not directed against ultra-Orthodox people as such, but against what she described as coercive behavior and an imposition on residents.

Residents also said the main road toward Ziv Medical Center was effectively blocked by vacationers walking in the roadway, creating chaos for traffic. One longtime resident, Nurit, said strangers shouted “Shabbos” and hit her car as she returned home, something she said she had never experienced in 40 years in Safed. Pitousi said police closed the road and later disconnected the generators when they arrived, and claimed, “They came to Safed to terrorize.” Safed municipality responded that it was a serious incident requiring a thorough review, lessons learned, and guidance to all relevant authorities so it would not happen again.