Chabad hasid
Chabad hasidFlash 90

A local newsletter, Hamahadura Hamerkazit, published a demand from residents of northern Tel Aviv that their neighbors not sell or rent apartments to Chabad hasidim.

On Thursday, the activists closed their WhatsApp group.

However, the activists said they would continue their activities via other avenues. They emphasized that their goal is to act against "possible attempts to change the secular character of the neighborhood."

"Due to the twisted way in which the group has been presented in the media, which emphasizes the less pleasant and more tempestuous messages which were written here out of concern and emotional turmoil, we have decided to close the group," its administrator wrote.

"It's important to emphasize that we had no intention of having this turn into verbal abuse. But as everyone knows, typing is easy and it's very easy for things to turn into verbal abuse when you're communicating via WhatsApp messages and not face-to-face."

The group's administrator also emphasized that he is against any agenda which he sees as threatening his lifestyle - but that his opposition does not stem from either invested personal interests or from racism.

"I am sure that the Chabad emissaries are amazing people who are acting with good intentions," he said.