If you are asked which is the most liberal city in Israel, you will probably immediately pull out "Tel Aviv". The first Hebrew city has been working on this branding for a long time. Its mayor, Ron Huldai, makes sure to write about it at every opportunity.
On the city's last birthday, he wrote: "Happy 114th birthday to our wonderful city. Even though you are constantly changing, you have not lost your values. The spirit of vision, progress and innovation, culture and art, and most importantly – a beacon of democracy and tolerance."
A few days earlier, he referred to the gay pride parade that will take place in the city this summer, writing: "Tel Aviv will remain the bastion of liberality and the freedom to be who you want to be, regardless of religion, race, gender or sexual orientation." Huldai also did not skip Ramadan, in which he greeted the city's Muslim residents, adding: "It is important to say, especially now, that Tel Aviv-Yafo will always be a place of coexistence, equality and tolerance." The poster is beautiful, but the question is - tolerance towards whom?
On Monday this week, the Tel Aviv municipality announced that it was backing down from its agreement with the Ma'ale Eliyahu Yeshiva, which has been in the city for 27 years, following pressure from council officials and an uprising by a handful of Tel Avivians, in an affair rife with enthusiasm and fake news.
Some facts: The yeshiva was founded following Rabin's assassination. The founders felt that there was alienation between the sectors in Israel, and decided to cross the distant river and move to Tel Aviv. About 20 years ago, the yeshiva received from the municipality a compound that used to be a school and converted it for its needs. Yeshiva boys study Torah and then enlist in the army.
Since they are close to Ichilov Hospital, they are also the record thrombocyte donors there, and are called upon to donate blood whenever a shortage arises. When someone has a relative who dies and asks for help organizing the shiva, the Tel Aviv municipality's hotline directs him to a yeshiva, where the guys organize chairs and equipment and a minyan. The students belong to the ultra-Orthodox religious stream. Have they ever protested against opening shops on Shabbat? Not. Does transportation flow regularly on the street even on good days? Yes. Even parking spaces they do not occupy - students come to the seating by bicycle.
A few years ago, the municipality decided that it needed the yeshiva compound in order to build a school there. The yeshiva, it was agreed, would move to a compound on a nearby street where there is a large synagogue, almost empty of worshippers, and adapt it to its needs. For the past four years, the issue has been in the process of being approved by official committees. At the end of March, the process ended, but some residents joined forces with council members, who began spreading lies and demonstrating against the municipality's move.
Councilwoman Tzipi Brand said that there are thousands of Avrachim who will enter the city, even though the yeshiva has only 250 students. It is said that this is a new yeshiva that is being introduced into the neighborhood, even though it is old and lies not far away. Those fighting the yeshiva tried to slander her, claiming that she was messianic and extremist and would change the face of the neighborhood. They may not like the content it teaches, but that's what pluralism is all about, isn't it? As for the claim to change the face of the neighborhood, it hasn't happened in the last half century.
The opponents set up the "Headquarters for the Struggle against Christians," and his Twitter account read: "It doesn't matter if this meeting has seven, three or one floor. The location of this dangerous outpost is outside the city of Tel Aviv, and nowhere." Yes, it has nothing to do with size or color, religious people simply have no place.
Is it liberalism? None of this would have mattered if Huldai hadn't heeded these sounds. But the mayor of the democracy's capital didn't even need a demonstration of the 30 people who lined up in front of the meeting. He closed the story earlier and announced that he would explore alternatives, ignoring the fact that the process has been conducted transparently for four years.
The yeshiva will not be established in the city center, and the main thing is that the pluralistic and tolerant spirit of Tel Aviv will not be harmed.
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