A decision by Mayor Rabbi Uri Lupoliansky to open a chareidi
kindergarten in Ramot Alef met stiff resistance by a minority
opposition group and militant secularists.
In light of the growth of the chareidi population in Ramot,
Mayor Lupoliansky decided to move the Civil Guard station on
Rechov Morgenthau to make room for a chareidi-run
kindergarten.
Members of the opposition party on the city council claimed
the kindergarten was part of a move intended "to bring about
a change in the composition of the population and to impart
to the neighborhood a chareidi character." They threatened to
organize a school strike in the neighborhood and demanded the
Minister of Internal Security and the Jerusalem District
Police Commander act to alter the decision.
Mayor Lupoliansky announced he stood firm in his decision to
open the kindergarten and that the kindergartners would begin
school this week. He then instructed municipal officials to
act in cooperation with the police and the local community
authority to locate an alternative site to house the
neighborhood Civil Guard station.
Local residents said the opposition by fringe figures in the
secular population was intended to revive past tensions
between different sectors of the public and that the secular
opposition is reminiscent of antisemitic rhetoric of bygone
eras. The residents thanked the Mayor for his efforts to find
solutions to ease the strain on the neighborhood's chareidi
schools.
