Feiglin Backs Shabbat Closure of State Institutions, Opposes Religious Coercion

Moshe Feiglin said Israel should maintain a distinctly Jewish public character, naming Ben Gurion Airport and Channel 11 as institutions that should close on Shabbat. In a Hebrew post on October 25, he distinguished that position from coercive legislation governing religious observance. He argued that decades of laws promoted by political activists had increased division rather than bringing Jews closer to Shabbat. Feiglin said Judaism rests on personal choice and advocated dialogue and affection as ways to connect people with Shabbat and Jewish values.