Rabbis call to bypass Tiberias' new beach: 'If women walk immodestly, there will be no protection'

The rabbinic leadership of the Haredi community has issued a decree prohibiting passage along the coastal road adjacent to the new mixed-gender beach 'The Trapez' in Tiberias, instructing the faithful to use an alternative route via the Poriya ridge, about 30 kilometers instead of 4.5. The rabbis cited the need to maintain modesty, referencing a Talmudic source. The conflict over the beach began weeks ago when Haredi representatives first requested a separating partition, but tensions escalated after local rabbis linked beach scenes to the security situation.

The rabbinic leadership of the Haredi community has published a decree titled 'Severe Warning for the Sanctity of the Camp,' which includes a blanket prohibition on passing along the coastal road adjacent to the new mixed-gender beach 'The Trapez' in Tiberias. The directive instructs the faithful to take an alternative, bypassing route via the Poriya ridge, on the southern side of the city, instead of the short drive of about 4.5 kilometers along the promenade. The decree states: 'And whoever guards his soul and the souls of his household shall not pass by the entrance to transgression, God forbid, until the matter is rectified and approved by the rabbis,' citing the Talmudic source 'If there is another way.' Educational institutions, yeshivas, and summer camps were also called upon to avoid bringing groups along this route. The tension around the beach began several weeks ago. Initially, Haredi public representatives on the city council tried to present a conciliatory line: Shimon Cohen, a member of the city coalition from the 'Believers in Tiberias' faction, requested the installation of a partition to separate the sidewalk from the beach. However, the tone quickly escalated, and local rabbis, including Rabbi Yekutiel Ohav Tzion, linked the beach scenes to the security situation: 'In a place where there is licentiousness and women walk immodestly, there is no protection,' he claimed in a video he circulated, adding that 'soldiers die not because Haredim don't enlist, but because there is licentiousness.' Now the struggle escalates with the official demand to create a 'Tiberias bypass route.'