A directive from leading Bnei Brak rabbis calling for men and women to use separate sidewalks near major event halls has ignited a new controversy over religious standards, municipal authority and the boundaries of Israel’s public space.

The instructions apply to crowded sections of Shlomo Hamelech and Ezra streets, where large wedding halls generate heavy pedestrian traffic. Men would walk along one side of the street and women along the other, particularly during major celebrations and other high-attendance events.

Channel 13 initially reported that the Bnei Brak Municipality planned to actively implement the arrangement through new signs and physical changes to the area. Municipal officials were quoted as saying that the initiative had been under consideration for years and could eventually be expanded to other crowded streets.

The municipality initially appeared to endorse the directive, saying the rabbis’ letter “speaks for itself” and that residents who follow the city’s leading religious authorities would comply.

However, after the report triggered widespread criticism, the municipality issued a more cautious clarification. It said the call for separation came directly from the rabbis and was addressed to the public, insisting that it was “not a municipal directive or policy.” The city said its involvement was limited to expanding and improving physical infrastructure around the halls because of severe crowding.

That explanation leaves a central question unresolved, whether the city will install signs or otherwise use publicly funded infrastructure to facilitate the separation while formally describing it as a voluntary religious arrangement.

Supporters argue that the plan reflects the lifestyle of Bnei Brak’s overwhelmingly Haredi population and would help control large crowds outside wedding halls. Critics counter that sidewalks are public property and that a local authority cannot effectively divide them according to gender, even when most nearby residents may voluntarily follow the arrangement.

The legal backdrop could also create problems for the initiative. In a previous case involving Beit Shemesh, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered municipal authorities to remove signs telling women to avoid particular sidewalks. The court repeatedly demanded enforcement after the signs were restored and instructed the municipality to remove notices and graffiti connected to the exclusion of women.

Similar signs directing men and women toward different sidewalks have appeared before in isolated Haredi neighborhoods, including Bnei Brak’s Kiryat Vizhnitz area. The latest proposal is more significant because it involves prominent city rabbis, major streets and reported municipal infrastructure work rather than an unofficial neighborhood practice.