JERUSALEM (VINnews) — In what is being described by some as a move of vindictiveness and seemingly selective enforcement, Rishon LeZion Mayor Raz Kinstlich has issued a demolition order over a building addition at the study hall of Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda Beeri, known as “the Yanuka”, located in the city. On Thursday morning municipal police forces arrived to supervise the demolition, and currently negotiations are under way with the rabbi and his followers.

Local residents gathering at the site told Bechadrei Charedim that the step constitutes improper targeting of a synagogue. “This is religious persecution in the Land of Israel. There are many unapproved and unregulated structures in the area, yet the mayor chose, for irrelevant reasons, to act specifically against a synagogue. This is bullying, selective and discriminatory enforcement,” they said.

The Yanuka, Rav Shlomo Yehuda Beeri

Shlomi N., a regular worshipper at the synagogue, told Bechadrei Charedim: “The mayor is trying to spread claims as if the neighborhood has a problem with the synagogue. The opposite is true. We draw holiness and support from this place. We all love the synagogue and the rabbi, and we oppose this harassment. We will settle accounts at the ballot box.”

A source close to the synagogue’s management said: “There is an improper effort by the mayor to clash with the synagogue and with the Yanuka, to whom many people flock for blessings and salvation. The claim about congestion in the area is nonsense. We approached the municipality countless times to regulate an alternative, suitable, and larger location. But there has been no willingness on the mayor’s part to resolve the matter, only to fight and provoke.”

Other sources at the synagogue hinted at possible political involvement behind the move, though no evidence has yet been provided.

Efforts are currently underway to regulate the situation without harming the synagogue.