The Tel Aviv Municipality clarified in recent days it will prevent the infiltration of missionary publications in the municipal "street libraries".
Behind the clarification is the Or L'Achim organization that works against missionaries seeking to lead Jews away from their faith. The organization became aware that missionaries were taking advantage of the open urban stage to preach conversion, albeit against the law.
Or L'Achim organization's Combating Cults and Mission Department head Rabbi Binyamin Vulcan wrote to Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, with copies to haredi council members Naftali Lobert and Natan Elnatan, in which he warned about abuse of a municipal service for missionary conversion.
The Tel Aviv Municipality responded by saying that the street libraries in the public sphere are open to the general public and that many people contribute reading material (books, magazines, etc.) to enrich and facilitate the leisure time of the visitors. These libraries are managed and maintained by an external employee who visits the libraries twice a week and reports to library staff at Beit Ariela about goings-on in the libraries.
The Municipality emphasizes "library management instructed workers to check whether flyers were placed having to do with publications of a cult (as it is defined in Israel) and were ordered to remove them from the shelves."