Interior Ministry Demands Enforcement Against Saturday Openings at Big Fashion Glilot

The fight over Saturday openings at Big Fashion Glilot has escalated again, after the Interior Ministry sent a letter on Thursday to Ramat HaSharon Mayor, demanding enforcement of the existing law and a ban on businesses opening on Shabbat.

In the letter, Interior Ministry Director-General Israel Ozen said the current municipal bylaw remains in force and, until the Interior Minister approves any change, the city is required to enforce the prohibition. He criticized the municipality’s argument that the law should be amended because Saturday openings have become the de facto reality, writing: “If the purpose of the amendment is to align the legal situation with the prevailing reality, it follows that, ostensibly, the actual situation, which resulted from a violation of the law, is what dictated and gave content to the proposed arrangement.”

Ozen added, “There is no room to accept and tolerate a wrongful situation in which the sinner benefits.” He said the city’s response did not adequately address the questions raised by the ministry, and that if the municipality wants to advance review of the bylaw, it must submit updated data, a full internal examination, and detailed responses to all issues raised by the ministry.

He concluded that until the bylaw is approved by the Interior Minister, it is not valid and cannot be followed. The dispute over whether businesses in the complex should open on Shabbat began even before Big Fashion Glilot opened, with the ultra-Orthodox leadership calling the plan a public desecration of Shabbat.