The so-called grocery store bill to block cities from allowing shops to open on Shabbat, a critical element of the recent deal to keep the Haredi parties in the coalition, was approved by the government on Sunday for further advancement in the Knesset.
The law, if passed, would give the interior minister the authority to block bylaws passed by municipal authorities that allow grocery stores and mini markets to open on Shabbat, apart from Tel Aviv which has already passed such a law and put it into affect.
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The legislation comes against the background of the severe coalition crisis that blew up over the last few weeks surrounding maintenance work on the Israel Railways network, which angered United Torah Judaism and Shas and led to UTJ chairman Yaakov Litzman resigning as health minister.
The deal reached between him UTJ MK Moshe Gafni and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent the crisis deepening even further was to pass the grocery store law and a second law that would require the Labor and Social Services Minister to “take into consideration Jewish tradition” when deciding whether or not to grant approval for requested maintenance work on Shabbat.
This second bill is also expected to be approved for passage to the Knesset on Sunday.
The grocery store bill was passed in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation and the full cabinet, so as to prevent an appeal by Yisrael Beytenu, which opposes the legislation.
Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid denounced the approval of the grocery store bill as “another insulting law of religious coercion under the cover of Netanyahu’s political deal with the Haredim.”
Said Lapid, “They are again creating division instead of a real discussion about the Israeli Sabbath, and we will fight this law with all our strength.”
Yisrael Beytenu and its chairman Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman have publicly opposed the bill and have said that the party and its five MKs will vote against the bill in the Knesset plenum.
Yisrael Beytenu faction chairman MK Robert Illatov described the passage of the bill as a “gross violation of the status quo [on religion and state] and an injury to the secular community which is the majority in the State of Israel.”
Illatov said that the party would oppose the bill if it comes for a vote in the Knesset plenum, a step which would seriously endanger its chances of being passed.