Court rejects petition calling for closure of shopping mall on Shabbat

The Tel Aviv District Court on Monday threw out a petition filed against the Ramat Hasharon municipality demanding that it enforce bylaws and close the new BIG Fashion Glilot mall on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath.

Judge Gilad Hess found that since the municipality and Mayor Yitzhak Rochberger had said at an earlier hearing that they would enforce the regulations — while also seeking adjustments on how it is enforced — there was no longer any point to the petition.

The decision maintains the status quo and the shopping center will remain open for the time being.

The enforcement of laws regarding work on Shabbat is an ongoing issue of contention in Israel, against the backdrop of broader disagreement over the relationship between religion and state. Municipal and national laws often differ, sometimes leading to conflict between city authorities and the national government, as well as local discord.

Hess stressed that the respondents must enforce the Shabbat bylaws and that the dismissal of the petition should not be taken as “an exemption from performing these actions.”

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The BIG Fashion Glilot mall opened early last year and immediately drew an outcry from ultra-Orthodox groups because it remained open seven days a week. At the time, the Ramat Hasharon municipality said it would not act to close the mall on Shabbat.

The petition was filed in May 2025 by “Histadrut Hapoel Hamizrah,” a religious Zionist workers’ rights organization. They claimed that the municipality and mayor were not enforcing bylaws requiring that businesses remain closed on Shabbat, or handing out the required fines for those who violate the rules.

Rochberger and City Hall had initially claimed that the particular bylaw was approved in 1967 and is no longer relevant to the culture that currently exists in Ramat Hasharon in general and the BIG compound in particular.

However, at a hearing in March, they declared that the closure law would be enforced.

In his ruling, Hess noted that the petition “succeeded in the sense that the municipality and the mayor clarified that there is reason to enforce the law.”

But he admitted that it was still too early to determine if the municipality was in fact acting as it said it would. He noted that the petitioners are entitled to file new court proceedings if they feel there is a need.

Attorneys on behalf of businesses operating in the mall said in a statement that the “dismissal of the petition points to maintaining the status quo existing in the city and in the BIG compound for decades.”

Ramat Hasharon has filed a request with the Interior Ministry to alter how the enforcement laws are applied, the Ynet outlet reported. The plan is a policy dividing the city into different areas, each with its own enforcement responsibility.

Last week, Interior Ministry Director-General Israel Uzan urged Rochberger to enforce the existing bylaws and forbid businesses from being open on Shabbat, according to Hebrew media reports.

Uzan noted that the current bylaw is still in effect, and until the interior minister approves any changes, the municipality must enforce it. However, Israel does not currently have an appointed interior minister as it was one of the cabinet positions left vacant when ultra-Orthodox parties withdrew from the government last year. The other positions have since been filled, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was temporarily granted a number of powers usually assigned to the interior minister.

The issue of facilities like shopping, entertainment, and public transport working on Shabbat has long been a source of tension in Israel between the ultra-Orthodox who seek to implement religious laws and secular residents who chafe at restrictions on what for many is their only day off each week.