(JNi.media) An appeals sub-committee of the National Council for Planning and Construction last week cancelled plans to build an Ultra-Orthodox yeshiva in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem, according to Makor Rishon.
A year ago, the Ateret Israel yeshiva submitted a plan for the construction of a 600-student campus on a lot at Hai Taieb Street, just outside the Jerusalem forest.
Neighborhood National Religious residents, led by Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein, objected to the project, claiming it would affect the character of the community, which also does not have the necessary infrastructure for such a large project.
In the past, when Adina Bar-Shalom, daughter of the late Rav Ovadia Yosef, wanted to build an Ultra-Orthodox college in Har Nof, local Ultra-Orthodox residents objected, claiming that such a large institution would burden the neighborhood’s infrastructure and cause traffic jams. They were joined by green groups that warned against potential damage to the Jerusalem forest.
This time around, local residents protested the fact that the yeshiva plan had been approved without debate at the local planning and construction committee. Instead, the project developers submitted their plan directly to the regional committee. That committee approved the project without hearing expert opinion, including that of Jerusalem city engineer Shlomo Eshkol, who has objected to the planned project.
The final rejection of the plan was received with great satisfaction in the neighborhood, although Rabbi Feuerstein stressed that “this is not a happy day for me, when a yeshiva was not permitted to build a home for itself. I am a rabbi and I want to increase Torah learning … But I believe that we rescued the neighborhood and the yeshiva from becoming mired in friction. The location did not fit, and we saved them and ourselves from bad, murky relations.”