Overview
- An urgent petition filed by activist Yaya Fink and former MK Michal Rozin asked the High Court on Wednesday to stop work on signs and infrastructure that aim to steer men and women to opposite sides of Shlomo HaMelech near wedding halls.
- Bnei Brak has widened and divided sidewalks and placed directional signs for evening hours to reduce severe crowding on a stretch used by thousands of wedding guests, according to municipal and media reports.
- The municipality says the separation is a private initiative of the city’s rabbis and that the city only provided infrastructure support to ease overcrowding rather than issuing an official enforcement order.
- Petitioners say the measures amount to unlawful gender segregation that violates equality and basic rights, and they ask the court to invalidate the arrangement in light of past rulings such as the Beit Shemesh prohibition on segregation signs.
- Local sources say the plan was developed over several years and could be extended to other busy streets, making the court’s ruling decisive for whether similar municipal-assisted segregation can spread and how residents will move in public spaces.