Prominent businessman Stef Wertheimer has recently forbidden workers to daven on the premises of the four Yiskar factories he owns. These factories are located the Tefen industrial region in the country's north.
This interdiction pertains particularly to a few score workers who, until the issuing of this order, held mincha services every day, at 1 p.m. on the factories' grounds. As a result of Wertheimer's order, the workers have found it very difficult to fulfill their religious duty.
The religious workers objected to the order, but were offered no rational reason for its issuance.
Minister Eli Suissa sharply denounced Wertheimer's decision. Last Friday he told the workers not to obey the order. "The man's the latest antisemite, who is climbing to success by means of Israel's land resources. Even in countries such as Libya, Iran and Iraq, the Jew's right to pray is respected, and Jews who want to pray are not abused," Suissa said.
