Jerusalem Movie Theater Complex To Stay Shut on Shabbat
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that a new Jerusalem movie complex must remain closed on Shabbat.
In its ruling on Sunday, the Supreme Court ruled that the Jerusalem municipality should renegotiate the contract with Cinema City and allow the city council to vote on it.
The Cinema City complex, with 15 theaters and some 50 restaurants and shops, opened last month in central Jerusalem.
The building permit issued in 2010 to the construction company included a stipulation from the Jerusalem municipality and the Finance Ministry that the complex remain closed on Shabbat. The complex was built on government property, and the municipality has said it should remain closed on Shabbat like all government offices.
Several private movie theaters in the city remain open during Shabbat, as are other attractions near Cinema City, including the Israel Museum and the Science Museum.
The theater’s owners are concerned about competition from other entertainment venues that remain open on Saturday, including a cultural complex currently under construction.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
