An urgent administrative petition was filed with the Supreme Court by the Freedom and Human Dignity Forum in Israel and two residents of the city, through attorney Tzafnat Nordman, demanding the cancellation of the Tel Aviv municipality's decision not to allow segregated prayer on Dizengoff Street during Yom Kippur. This is a prayer led by the Jewish Head organization every year, but this organization is not a party to the appeal to the court.
The petition asks the court to declare the decision null and void or cancel it, because, according to the petitioners, it is illegal. "The decision marks a new low in the annals of the respondent, in the annals of the state," it said. "Since the rule of the British Mandate and the disturbances in the Jewish community, no prohibition on Jewish prayer accessories, on a partition has been heard in the Land of Israel – until now."
"What was is not what will be": Women march in Bnei Brak against the phenomenon of exclusion // Photo: Moshe Ben Simhon
According to the petitioners, in recent years prayers have been held on Dizengoff Street, using a partition, and so far the municipality has not thought of banning the phenomenon. "The separate prayers, using a partition, were held with the approval of the municipality, which even boasted about them," the petitioners claim. The petitioners note that Muslim prayers have been held in the city segregated for a long time without interruption. Thus, not long ago, a mass prayer event was held in honor of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, when municipal fences were used to separate the genders.
The new decision, they add, is "illegal and was made without authority" According to them, there is no law that prohibits Jewish prayer according to the rules of Jewish law and tradition, "including using a partition between the men's and women's sections, and therefore such prayer is permitted." The municipality's bylaws also do not include authority to prohibit the use of a partition in prayer. "The prohibition on using a partition in Jewish prayer is not only illegal but also unconstitutional," Nordman writes on behalf of the petitioners.
Pashkevilim calling for gender segregation on buses in Mea Shearim, Jerusalem (archive), photo: Lior Mizrahi
According to them, the right to equality is violated both when it comes to equality between Jews and Muslims, and gender equality. "If no partition is placed, prayer can only serve members of one species. Banning partitions will lead to only men participating in prayer, if it takes place at all. The partition ban is therefore the exclusion of women."
"It would have been better if the shameful decision had never come about," the petitioners conclude. A hearing on the case is scheduled before the upcoming fast, for this coming Wednesday.
Last week, Israel Hayom reported that the Tel Aviv municipality prohibited the organization of a Jewish head from holding segregated prayers on Dizengoff Street, as has been the practice in recent years at the beginning and end of Yom Kippur. Following this announcement, the organization announced that it would not hold an event without separation. A Jewish leader approached Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu and asked what they should do, and the rabbi said that they should hold the prayer even if there was no separation, but the organization had not yet made a final decision on what they would do.
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