Supermarket prepares meat (illustrative)
Supermarket prepares meat (illustrative)Reuters

Although they would have you believe otherwise, the Tiv Taam supermarket chain, which proudly advertises that it is “open on Sabbaths and holidays,” is actually supposed to, like every oither business in the country, supposed to close on Shabbat. For its habitual violation of the law requiring it to close on Shabbat and give its Jewish workers the day off, the chain was fined NIS 260,000.

Supervisors visited the Be'er Sheva outlet of the chain, and discovered 12 Jews working there.

This is not the first time the chain has been fined for violating the national law on closing on Shabbat, as well as for local laws on the matter, if any exist.

Last year, a Tel Aviv court ordered the municipality to more strongly enforce local laws on Shabbat closure against Tiv Taam, as well as against convenience store chain AM:PM, which is also a habitual Sabbath violator. The order came after local business owners sued the city, saying that the fines that the city imposed on the stores on a regular basis were not having the desired effect.

About six months ago, a class action suit was filed against Tiv Taam for violating workers' human rights by requiring them to work on their day off. The suit has yet to be certified by a court.

Tiv Taam says that it earns a good deal of its income from Shabbat sales, and that closing the stores on the Sabbath would badly hurt profits.