Even on a weekday, tensions are high in a Bnei Brak neighborhood over Shabbat protests that have divided the city.

“The zealots here are complete vandals and barbarians,” a woman in the northern Writers’ Complex neighborhood scowled during a Wednesday afternoon visit to the area. “They spit on my daughter — it’s terrible.”

Ongoing localized disputes over the character of the neighborhood became a national flashpoint in recent weeks when the municipality decided to block off a nearby bridge during Shabbat “in order to preserve the neighborhood’s character.”

Police declared the closure unlawful and removed the barricades, triggering pushback from local ultra-Orthodox activists and massive street demonstrations intended to physically block the path of passing vehicles.

Things came to a head during Friday night demonstrations two weeks ago, when a driver in a vehicle sped through a crowd of protesters and hit a 3-year-old girl on the street. The girl was slightly injured and has since recovered, but the incident left city officials and residents desperate for a quick and peaceful resolution.

“It’s become total chaos,” said Bracha, a resident of the neighborhood sitting on a bench near the corner where the girl was hit. “And it’s getting scarier and scarier.”

The first seeds of the clash between Haredi Orthodox and secular residents of the Writers’ Complex neighborhood were planted before any of them had even moved in two years ago.

The development was originally marketed as a new ultra-Orthodox community in northern Bnei Brak, a city widely recognized as the unofficial capital of Haredi Jewry in Israel. However, land laws required some of the apartments to be sold to the general public through Mechir Lamishtaken, a government-subsidized lottery for discounted apartments. In the end, secular applicants won the rights to buy about 10% of the units.

For those who won, the opportunity was exceptional, said Natan Schwartz, CEO of Nesher Real Estate, which specializes in Bnei Brak properties.

“It’s in the center of the country, with employment opportunities, hospitals, universities, a light rail, and access to everything,” Schwartz said. “Apartments are NIS 1 million [about........

© The Times of Israel