Tel Aviv’s War on Torah: 130 Shuls Threatened With Eviction Unless They Break Halacha
This is not a “Chareidi issue.” Today it’s Tel Aviv—tomorrow it’s everywhere. Dati Leumi and Chareidi alike must stand together to defend our mesorah.
Two years after the Tel Aviv municipality banned gender-segregated tefillos in the streets on Yom Kippur—while openly permitting Arabs to hold segregated prayers in the same city—the war against kedushas Yisrael has entered a new phase.
A shocking Ynet report has revealed that the municipality has launched a clandestine operation targeting more than 100 synagogues across Tel Aviv, sending letters to the nonprofit associations that operate them and demanding they sign new contracts—or face eviction.
The contracts stipulate that synagogues must provide “religious services to all neighborhood residents, regardless of age, gender, or belief.” In practice, this means shuls would be forced to violate halacha: no mechitzah, no gender separation, and prayers open to “all streams” or even other faiths. If they refuse, eviction proceedings will begin.
“This clause is outrageous,” said attorney David Shub, who is representing the synagogues pro bono. “It is nothing less than secular coercion dressed up as ‘equality.’ Signing such an agreement means destroying the mesorah—banning mechitzos, banning gender separation, and opening the door to non-Jewish services inside our shuls.”
Shuls Under Siege
Most of these shuls were established decades ago, some even before the founding of the State, many on land that was allocated by the municipality itself but never properly registered in the Land Registry. Today, some 130 shuls are “technically unregistered,” with their land listed under municipal ownership in the Tabu system. These are the shuls now being targeted.
In one dramatic case, the Beis Din declared Tiferet Tzvi shul a hekdesh (religious endowment), blocking the municipality from seizing control. The Tel Aviv municipality immediately petitioned the Supreme Court against the Beis Din’s decision, and the case is still pending.
Shul leaders warn that the consequences will be devastating if this plan moves forward.
“If these demands pass, it will mean one thing—the systematic silencing of Jewish mesorah in the name of ‘equality.’ Every shul will be forced to choose between keeping halacha or keeping their doors open.”
And once again, the hypocrisy is glaring: no such requirements are being placed on Tel Aviv’s mosques. Only Jewish synagogues are being told to erase halacha and Torah tradition in order to survive.
A Call to Our Brothers
This is no longer “just” a Chareidi issue. This is not about Peleg, Satmar, or Ponovezh. This is about every Jew who davens with a mechitzah, who holds onto halacha, who believes our Torah is eternal and non-negotiable.
Our dati leumi brothers, it is time to open our eyes. The same State you defend, the same system you believe will protect Torah in the long run, is showing its true face. Today it is 130 shuls in Tel Aviv. Tomorrow it could be shuls in Yehuda, Shomron, Yerushalayim, or anywhere else.
When the State says “equality,” what it means is “erase the mesorah.” When it says “regulation,” what it means is “state control over Torah.”
We cannot afford to be divided. Whether Chareidi, Dati Leumi, or traditional, we must act together as one Klal Yisrael, under the banner of Torah. Only united can we stand against these decrees and proclaim with clarity: the mesorah of Am Yisrael will never be sold, signed away, or evicted.