The Knesset’s Special Committee for Public Petitions, chaired by MK Osher Shkalim (Likud), convened Wednesday to discuss the opening dates of Herzliya’s beaches. The hearing followed complaints that the city’s gender-separated beach operates for only three months of swimming season compared to six months for other city beaches.
2+Herzliya municipality chose not to attend the hearing or send a representative. In a statement, the city said: “In the past, the separate beach operated during July-August. Two years ago, its opening was moved up to June, taking into account the characteristics of the target audience and the start of summer vacation for yeshiva students and the ultra-Orthodox public. According to checks conducted, there is no significant demand to operate the separate beach at an earlier date.”
Rafi Kadoshim, a member of Herzliya’s city council, said at the hearing: “You need to understand that lifeguard services at the separate beach operate for half a year, but enforcement of the separation between men and women is done for only three months. There is a large religious and traditional public in Herzliya for whom it’s important to come to the city’s beaches, and we need to allow separation throughout the entire swimming season and not just part of it.”
2+Barak Potolsky, beach supervisor at the Interior Ministry, noted that “only in Herzliya is there a difference between the months the separate beach operates and the months other beaches operate. The operating hours of separate beaches throughout the country are identical to the opening of all beaches according to the local authority’s decision.”
Shai Glick, CEO of the B’Tzalmo organization, added: “Beyond the shortened operating period of the separate beach, it doesn’t provide accessibility for people with disabilities. Herzliya municipality cares for a wide range of its residents but ignores the needs of religious, traditional, and ultra-Orthodox residents. Herzliya municipality consistently discriminates against the religious public. It’s still not too late to correct this injustice.”
2+MK Osher Shkalim summed up the hearing: “There is a serious problem here of discrimination against the religious, traditional, and ultra-Orthodox public who are not allowed to enjoy separate bathing for as long a period as at other beaches in Herzliya. I don’t accept that Herzliya municipality chose not to participate in this hearing, and I intend to act on this matter. I call on the mayor of Herzliya to reconsider his decision. I intend to approach the interior minister and local government so they will intervene in this matter. I call on Herzliya municipality to provide equal service to everyone. I intend to fight Herzliya municipality’s decision with all the tools at my disposal.”