At the end of a stormy deliberation in the Knesset about the
building of the Mamilla project in Jerusalem, the Economic
Committee of the Knesset decided that it regards the Mamilla
development in Jerusalem opposite the Old City, "as a high
priority national project, on which construction work should
proceed without pause." The Committee called on the Karta
company to sign the requests for the building permits, in
order to enable construction to continue.
At this unusually stormy deliberation, Rabbi Ephraim
Holtzberg, Karta's general director of was "silenced," after
trying to react to the harsh remarks hurled against him and
the government company he directs. After the deliberation
Rabbi Holtzberg claimed that most of the members of the
committee were Leftists or Meretz members, who had hurled
falsehoods at him and at the members of the company.
The deliberation became a platform for harsh expressions
against the chareidi public, as the representatives of the
Left and the promoter of the project, Alfred Akirov, tried to
claim, over and over again, that the lack of approval of the
changes by the Zoning Committee supposedly stemmed from the
fears of the massive Shabbos desecration liable to take place
on the site due to the cinemas which would open on
Shabbos.
Turning to Akirov, Rabbi Holtzberg said: "We have encountered
dishonesty from the other side. The problem is financial,
economic, not religious. Akirov, a friend of Olmert, doesn't
pay us the money to which we are entitled." At these words,
the chairman of the committee, Amnon Rubinstein, issued an
order to remove Rabbi Holtzberg from the meeting room.
MK Rabbi Yosef Laizerson said that in addition to the
financial considerations, there is the overriding interest of
the preservation of the inner unity and tranquility of
Jerusalem, and that it is clear that the establishment of
cinemas and entertainment places, will cause tension and
strife.
