Interior Minister Aryeh Deri's office has rejected criticism by Mayor Haim Bibas of Modiin, following Deri's decision to prevent authorities from changing local bylaws in order to open supermarkets on Shabbat.
A statement by the office said, "The city of Tel Aviv, the capital of secularism in Israel, wanted to open supermarkets on Shabbat while Haim Bibas, a relatively new mayor, wants to open stores on Shabbat in all branches of commerce, trample workers and turn hundreds of people into workers who work 7 days a week without any day of rest." The statement concluded, "Mr. Bibas published a populist, non-serious, inaccurate message that ignores the law and the truth."