High Court Asked to Block Rehovot Yeshiva

Leading text: "The Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) has petitioned the High Court of Justice to block the construction of a yeshiva for adults in a secular neighborhood of Rehovot four years after the court first ruled against its construction.Attorneys Orly Erez-Lachovsky and Einat Horowitz submitted the petition on behalf of 69 residents of the Ramat Yigal neighborhood and nearby inhabitants and the two Shinui city council members.

They charged that the city had allocated the same plot of land to the non-profit organization Hilchot Hayim to build the yeshiva that it had granted them in the late 1990s. At that time, the neighborhood residents had only learned about the allocation in March 1999, when construction got under way on the plot.

IRAC then petitioned the court against the allocation on behalf of neighborhood residents and the non-profit organization Am Hofshi. In August 2000, the High Court accepted the petition and canceled the city's allocation. It ruled that when a city allocates land earmarked for public use to a private institution without a tender and without demanding payment, it must first "examine the public needs of the community living in the area where the plot of land is located"... "

Source: Dan Izenberg. High Court asked to block Rehovot yeshiva. The Jerusalem Post Print edition (2 Decemberf 2004) p. 05 [FullText]