Hareidi-religious protest
Hareidi-religious protestIsrael news photo: (file)

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has revealed a new plan that he hopes will allow for the operation of municipal parking on the Sabbath without provoking the hareidi-religious community. The plan will see the closure on the Sabbath of the Safra parking lot, located near the hareidi-religious neighborhood of Mea Shearim.

The Carta parking lot, located opposite Jaffa Gate in the Old City, will be opened in its place, a move that still may spur riots similar to those that rocked the capital earlier this month.

Barkat warned that the Safra lot may be opened on the Sabbath until the Carta lot can be put into use. The Carta lot is currently in receivership, and the city may not use it before getting authorization from the Jerusalem District Court.

If the Safra lot is used on the Sabbath, it will be operated by non-Jews in order to avoid Sabbath desecration, Barkat said. The Carta lot will also be operated in a way as to reduce Sabbath desecration, according to municipal officials.

Those who oppose the use of municipal lots on the Sabbath argue that the lots encourage Sabbath desecration by making it easier for Jews to drive on the Sabbath.

Barkat referred to the need for parking on the Sabbath as “a life or death issue.” Barkat and other municipal officials say that if the city does not provide parking on the Sabbath, visitors to the city will park illegally, possibly posing a threat to road safety.

"This is the moment of truth for those who seek coexistence in our city,” Barkat said Tuesday when announcing his new plan. In Jerusalem, he continued, residents must know how to “live and let live.”

"I believe the things that unify us, and our will to work together, are stronger than this conflict,” he added.

Members of the hareidi-religious and secular communities in Jerusalem have held protests over the Sabbath parking issue. A major hareidi-religious protest ended in violence as demonstrators clashed with police in Safra square.

Following that rally, several smaller rallies were held in support of opening the Safra lot on the Sabbath. Demonstrators accused hareidi-religious leaders of religious coercion.

Hareidi-religious community leaders agreed to refrain from demonstrating for two weeks as the city kept the Safra lot shut while attempting to negotiate a compromise.