A simmering dispute over Shabbos traffic in Bnei Brak escalated on Friday when large dumpsters were placed across an access road leading into a neighborhood shared by Chareidi and secular residents, effectively blocking vehicles from entering or leaving until police arrived and cleared the roadway.
The dumpsters were positioned shortly before the onset of Shabbos at the entrance to the city’s Mitcham HaSofrim neighborhood. According to Ynet, individuals associated with the Bnei Brak municipality were responsible for placing them there, although the municipality denied that the blockade had been officially authorized.
Residents contacted police and complained that the dumpsters had effectively trapped them inside the neighborhood. Officers dispatched to the scene subsequently had the containers moved, reopening the road to traffic several hours after they had been put in place.
Police also summoned the truck driver who transported and positioned the dumpsters for questioning on suspicion of endangering a transportation route.
The driver reportedly told investigators that he had been carrying out work on behalf of the Bnei Brak municipality. City officials, however, denied instructing anyone to place the dumpsters across the road.
The incident marked the latest escalation in a growing conflict over Shabbos traffic in Mitcham HaSofrim, a relatively new Bnei Brak neighborhood constructed as part of Israel’s Mechir Lamishtaken affordable housing program.
Unlike many other areas of Bnei Brak, the development includes both Chareidi and secular residents who moved there from communities around the country. Tensions have recently intensified over the use of neighborhood roads by vehicles on Shabbos.
The dispute had already spilled onto the street the previous week, when Chareidi residents placed a barrier across the roadway in an effort to prevent Shabbos traffic. Police removed that obstruction as well, determining that the road closure was illegal.
The confrontation continued Friday evening, with some Chareidi residents accusing others in the neighborhood of deliberately attempting to change Bnei Brak’s religious character.
A police source, however, said provocative behavior has occurred on the other side of the dispute as well.
“Even the secular residents deliberately provoke the Chareidim, driving wildly and doing donuts. Anyone who enters by car via the new Landa Bridge passes by shuls. The secular residents have another way to enter,” the source said.
Police said the Bnei Brak municipality had not issued a lawful decision under its municipal bylaws authorizing the road to be closed.
Authorities have reportedly suggested that the two sides bring the dispute before a court and seek a legal determination over access to the road and Shabbos traffic.
For now, however, no resolution has been reached, leaving Chareidi and secular residents of the neighborhood locked in an increasingly bitter dispute over Shabbos observance and vehicle access in one of Israel’s most heavily Chareidi cities.
