{"id":525505,"date":"2026-07-04T22:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T22:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/525505\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T22:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T22:33:07","slug":"cafe-basimta-to-remain-open-on-saturdays-despite-haredi-protest-owner-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/525505\/","title":{"rendered":"Cafe Basimta to remain open on Saturdays despite haredi protest, owner says"},"content":{"rendered":"

The owner of Cafe Basimta in Jerusalem\u2019s Nahlaot neighborhood, Yoel Ben David, clarified on Saturday in a conversation with Walla that he will continue to open his business on weekends despite the ultra-Orthodox protest<\/a> that took place at his cafe.<\/p>\n

The Jerusalem Post magazine had highlighted<\/a> Cafe Basimta last week as a new specialty caffeine spot which could serve as a “home away from home” for those seeking a quiet area in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

Ben David described his fear that the protest could turn violent and noted that the broad support he received from Jerusalem residents encouraged him to continue as usual.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Walla, Ben David described the tense moments and addressed the protesters\u2019 use of children during the demonstration.<\/p>\n

“Suddenly they arrived, and it was disturbing and quite sad to see small children being sent to bang on windows and overturn tables,” Ben David said.<\/p>\n

According to Ben David, he tried to create dialogue and calm the situation, but without success. “I tried to speak with the protesters, but there was no one to speak to. I was afraid it would develop into an incident of violence, either by them or that one of the customers would get worked up and respond.”<\/p>\n

Ben David explained that the protest caught him by surprise and without any prior warning. “There were no early signs before Saturday,” he noted. “There were people who told me I was very brave for deciding to open on Saturday, but I did not think there would be a reaction like this.”<\/p>\n

However, he stressed that the scenes from the protest<\/a> were not foreign to him. “This is not the first time I have experienced intimidation and threats.”<\/p>\n

Despite the protesters\u2019 harsh response, the business owner is drawing encouragement from the mobilization of the city\u2019s secular public. Several hours after the confrontation began, dozens of residents from across Jerusalem<\/a> arrived at the site to express support and bolster the staff.<\/p>\n

“I feel very encouraged; there is a large community here that supports us,” Ben David concluded, adding that he was moved by the wave of messages and phone calls he had received from many residents since the morning.<\/p>\n

The current uproar began earlier on Saturday, when dozens of ultra-Orthodox protesters surrounded the cafe, which opened at the end of May in an alley adjacent to Agrippas Street. The protesters surrounded the site, banged on the windows, cursed and spat toward the customers. Police forces called to handle the incident arrived in the area after most of the protesters had already dispersed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The owner of Cafe Basimta in Jerusalem\u2019s Nahlaot neighborhood, Yoel Ben David, clarified on Saturday in a conversation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12184,132751,85,46,3794,43,52,124874,12185],"class_list":["post-525505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-haredi","tag-haredi-protests","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-jerusalem","tag-news","tag-protests","tag-shabbat","tag-ultra-orthodox"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}