The High Court has halted construction of a community center
for Lev L'Achim in the midst of Rechovot, because the city
gave the land for free to the religious organization behind
the yeshiva without asking neighbors if they objected,
despite the fact that the project received all the legally
required approvals and followed all the procedures that were
previously accepted. Community comments are generally
solicited at the time of approval of the building plans, as
they were in this case, and not when the land is originally
allocated, as the Court required.
The court overturned all the approvals of the project that
had been obtained at the local and regional levels, despite
the fact that in this case construction was already underway,
and lashed out at the current general lack of formal criteria
for cities to allocate land to private organizations and
ordered the State Prosecutor's Office to issue clear criteria
for such land allocations.
The case involved a nonprofit organization dedicated to
outreach, to which the Rechovot municipality gave land for
the construction of a center for its activities in Ramat
Yigal, a neighborhood populated almost exclusively by non-
religious families. The organization followed the generally
accepted democratic procedures for such projects and obtained
approval of the city council for the land allocation and of
all the relevant authorities for its building plans before
beginning construction.
As the construction began, residents expressed opposition to
the placement of the yeshiva in their neighborhood. They then
organized into an ad hoc committee, helped by the
Jerusalem-based Center for Religious Pluralism and other
militant anti-religious organizations that are not from
Rechovot.
When the suit with the High Court was first filed about a
year ago, the defendants' attorneys were surprised that the
Court issued an order to halt construction which was already
well underway. Usually, an ongoing project that received all
the necessary permits and approvals is allowed to continue
work due to the costs involved and the fact that any
objections should have been raised at earlier stages. No
public funds were used for the construction which was
financed entirely from small donations from a broad cross-
section of Rechovot's residents.
The court ruled that Rechovot city hall's actions in the case
were "flawed, reflecting poor public management" and that
"those flaws undermine the citizenry's faith in the integrity
of government." This despite the fact that the same
procedures are followed throughout the country and have been
for fifty years. The court ordered the city to pay the
plaintiffs NIS 25,000 in court expenses, which court
observers said was a particularly high amount given the
circumstances.
Rabbi Eliezer Sorotzkin, director of Lev L'Achim, said to
Yated Ne'eman that his organization was shocked by the
verdict. "Can someone now come and protest the huge Beilinson
Hospital complex saying that they did not take his interests
into account when the allocated land for that hospital? Is it
reasonable that someone can appeal to the High Court against
the allocation of land for any public building after the land
was granted following all accepted procedures and based on a
decision of the local council?"
Rabbi Sorotzkin maintained that no similar decision would be
rendered against any other public building. He maintained
that senior legal professionals were astonished by the
decision of the High Court but he did not specify who they
were. He also asserted that he knew what the outcome would be
if they polled the residents of Rechovot about the issue.
Rabbi Sorotzkin said that his organization would consult with
legal advisors and with gedolei Yisroel about their
next move.
MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni noted that the force of the decision is
primarily against public religious institutions like
shuls and mikvehs that have to get land
allocations. Most secular organizations are municipal
institutions and thus land for their construction does not
need to be allocated. "Thus the High Court made another
stride on its way to the yawning divide between it and the
chareidi community," said Rabbi Gafni.
Rabbi Gafni termed the decision of the Court "political"
since it interfered with the political process as the
allocation was approved by the full municipal council by a
vote of 17 to 4, taken recently after the first hearings in
Court.
Lev L'Achim officials said that the lopsided vote and the
community's financial contributions show that the work of
their organization and in particular that of Rabbi Tzvi
Schwartz, the head of the Rechovot branch, has broad public
support.
