The haredi clientele of the swimming pool at the Tzipori Center preferred that on days when women swim, a female lifeguard or non-Jewish male lifeguard supervise them.
Therefore, on days when the women came to swim and it was the non-Jewish lifeguard's shift, a sign was hung announcing the man's presence in the pool assigned to the women that read: "Non-Jewish lifeguard today."
This angered the Tag Meir organization, that claimed on Channel 12 News: "The way the lifeguard's religion is displayed on the sign is racist and discriminatory, and encourages polarization between Jews and Arabs. How would we react to a sign at a pool in the U.S. or Europe announcing a Jewish rescuer?"
After the storm raged around the sign, Tzipori Center decided to remove it. One of the pool workers explained the rationale around hanging the sign. "We have separate swimming for haredi women on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. For this sector it's important to have a female lifeguard. Sometimes the female lifeguard cannot arrive and in such a situation it's important for haredi women that the lifeguard be non-Jewish. Since this could insult certain groups, the sign was removed," they said.
Tzipori Center Director Shimi Amsalem said: "As soon as I was informed of the sign, I inquired and was explained that haredi women wanted it because they don't enter the water if there's no Arab or female lifeguard. What's funny is that every day there's an Arab lifeguard who's been working for us for many years. Jews and Arabs are all equal, from the moment I heard about the sign's existence - we took it down so as not to hurt anyone's feelings."