(ASSOCIATED PRESS) — JERUSALEM — Israel's interior minister said he will no longer permit Tel Aviv supermarkets to stay open on the Jewish Sabbath, drawing a chorus of criticism Monday from liberal Israelis who see the regulation as religious coercion against secular society.
In his ruling, Minister Gideon Saar said he is rejecting the city's proposed bylaws to allow supermarkets to remain open from Friday evening to Saturday evening.
The existing arrangement "disproportionately harms the value of the Sabbath as the general day of rest in Israel," Saar said in the ruling. Saar said he would give an exception to three major tourist sites and gas station convenience stores.