A yeshiva, of all things, is causing a major fight within the haredi community of Bet Shemesh.
A couple of months ago it became known that Mayor of Bet Shemesh Moshe Abutbol allotted an unusually large plot of land to a yeshiva, Yeshivat Torat Zeev, from Yerushalayim. The 7 dunam plot of land is in RBS C.
Initially the allotment was protested by Eli Friedman, city councilman from the TOV party. He protested, and voted against the allotment, in the city council vote. His opposition is due to the size of the plot and that this yeshiva is not a local institution - 7 dunam is an unusually large size, and is inappropriate especially when there is already known to be a shortage of schools and plots for local institutions. Most institutions are allocated plots to the size of up to 1.5 dunam.
City Councilman Shmuel Greenberg (UTJ) was responsible for the allocation, and has attacked Friedman for his opposition. Greenberg's attack including a scathing op-ed in the Yated Neeman accusing him of opposing yeshivas and Torah study, while ignoring the actual issue. He has so far failed to explain why he agreed to give 7 dunam of land to a yeshiva from outside of Bet Shemesh while local institutions flounder and fight for every inch of land they can get.
According to Bechadrei, this has boomeranged on Greenberg. The opposition has increased as residents began to understand that their interests are being overlooked in favor of personal interests of their representatives. It seems a group of residents has sent a letter to Minister of the Interior Gideon Saar asking him to delay the allotment until the courts can hear and decide on the issue. They are preparing to file a lawsuit against the allotment, stating that they are not opposed to the yeshiva and have nothign against the yeshiva opening its doors in Bet Shemesh - the only thing they are opposed to is specifically this allotment of land, of this size, and that it smells of corruption.
According to the groups representative, Daniel Spiegel, besides for all the information already mentioned, the allotment happened after activists and the mayor himself met with the sponsor of the yeshiva, a philanthropist from France, the allotment was agreed to and approved. As Spiegel says, "Without casting suspicion on anyone, the issue should be investigated to discover the causes behind the disproportionate decision..."
I find it humorous that he casts suspicions while saying he is avoiding casting suspicion....
Bechadrei quotes another resident, left unnamed, who also stressed that they have nothing against the yeshiva itself, but are protesting against the distorted set of priorities of Iryat Bet Shemesh, giving a disproportionately large plot of land to establish a yeshiva that is not from Bet Shemesh itself while there is already a shortage of classrooms for local institutions.
Will the fight over a yeshiva bring about the downfall of the [largely] inept leadership of Bet Shemesh? It might be part of it, as more and more residents even within the Haredi community are realizing that their representatives dont have the interests of the local residents at the top of their lists of priorities..
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