{"id":216829,"date":"2026-01-04T21:03:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T21:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/216829\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T21:03:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T21:03:03","slug":"mother-says-told-to-leave-after-breastfeeding-at-tel-aviv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/216829\/","title":{"rendered":"mother says told to leave after breastfeeding at Tel Aviv"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Leslie Chen Mrejen, 37, a Tel Aviv dentist who immigrated from Paris seven years ago, planned to celebrate New Year\u2019s Eve with her husband and their three-month-old son at a Landwer Caf\u00e9 branch in Tel Aviv’s Azrieli Mall. During the visit, she says, she was asked by the manager to stop breastfeeding her baby<\/a>\u2014and even to leave\u2014on the grounds that the caf\u00e9 is kosher<\/a> and therefore breastfeeding was not permitted.\u201cWe went out to celebrate New Year\u2019s Eve<\/a> in our own way because we have a baby, and we thought of going to Azrieli Mall,\u201d Chen Mrejen says, describing what she calls a traumatic incident. \u201cMy husband took time off and we walked around the mall. I was hungry, and when you\u2019re breastfeeding, you\u2019re even hungrier. I told my husband we\u2019d sit down at Landwer and get something to eat. He went to the restroom and I stood in line to get in. I told the hostess that my son had just woken up crying and needed to eat, so I had to sit down. After 20 minutes, they seated me, and my husband still hadn\u2019t come back from the restroom. I sat down and started breastfeeding my son.<\/p>\n

2 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05dc\u05e1\u05dc\u05d9<\/a>\"\u05dc\u05e1\u05dc\u05d9<\/p>\n

Dr. Leslie Chen Mrejen and her three-month-old son<\/p>\n

(Photo: Courtesy of the family)<\/p>\n

\u201cA few minutes later, a waitress came up to me and said something like, \u2018I hate to do this, but that’s not allowed here.\u2019 She didn\u2019t even explicitly say that breastfeeding wasn\u2019t allowed\u2014she didn\u2019t dare and was visibly uncomfortable. I told her I was in the middle of chaos, my baby was crying and he had to eat. It\u2019s important to note that I didn\u2019t have a cover and I didn\u2019t cover myself, but I wasn\u2019t exposed and nothing could be seen. The waitress said it was an instruction from above. I asked her, \u2018What from above\u2014the instruction that breastfeeding is forbidden?!\u2019 She just rolled her eyes and added, \u2018I\u2019m really sorry.\u2019 She was clearly very uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chen Mrejen says she was stunned and didn\u2019t know how to react. \u201cWhen my husband came back from the restroom, I told him and he froze. We both froze and didn\u2019t really know how to respond,\u201d she continues. \u201cIf I had known this would happen, I would have reacted differently. But because it was so surprising and unexpected, I started shaking and crying, and then decided I wouldn\u2019t stay there\u2014just finish breastfeeding and leave. While I was still breastfeeding, a manager came over and asked if I could cover up. I asked him, \u2018Do you see anything?\u2019 He said it was a kosher, religious branch. I told him I don\u2019t see any religious people here\u2014it\u2019s Tel Aviv in 2026, what\u2019s going on? He said it doesn\u2019t matter if there are religious people or not\u2014breastfeeding isn\u2019t acceptable here. I told him it\u2019s the most natural thing there is, and he said breastfeeding isn\u2019t allowed to avoid lawsuits from customers over harassment. He didn\u2019t understand that the fact he commented to me\u2014that\u2019s the harassment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chen Mrejen and her husband left the caf\u00e9, but she asked him to bring her something small to eat to ease her hunger. Even when they tried to get takeaway, she says, they were made to feel unwelcome. \u201cMy husband is a very calm person, and he was not in a good state. He ordered me an orange juice, but it didn\u2019t arrive. When he went to pick it up, the manager said to him, \u2018But you\u2019re not staying here, right?\u2019 He really rushed us out, even though we obviously didn\u2019t want to stay anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

She describes the experience as humiliating and traumatic. \u201cI felt like they were treating my child\u2014who is only three months old and just wanted to eat\u2014as if he were repulsive,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI felt like a bad mother who couldn\u2019t provide him with the most basic thing in the world, and all the while he was, of course, crying and screaming.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Chen Mrejen, the franchisee contacted her after she shared the story on social media, but after apologizing, he clarified that breastfeeding is not allowed at his branch so as not to embarrass other people. \u201cWhat is embarrassing about breastfeeding a baby? Again, I wasn\u2019t exposed, and several mothers who were there confirmed that to me. He apologized and wanted to compensate me\u2014but I won\u2019t be going back there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result, she says, is a loss of the basic sense of freedom and security to be out in public with her baby. \u201cNow I\u2019m already afraid to breastfeed in public,\u201d she says. \u201cI love breastfeeding, I love this very special bond with my son. Breastfeeding isn\u2019t always easy, which is why it should be encouraged\u2014not undermined by making women who choose to breastfeed feel like they\u2019re doing something wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landwer said in response: \u201cLandwer is committed to creating a respectful, inclusive and safe public space for every guest. The chain\u2019s management was surprised by the incident, which does not align with the chain\u2019s guidelines and values. Landwer works to protect the right to breastfeed in any public space and views it as a natural and legitimate act. Once the case became known, the branch manager contacted the guest, expressed regret over her experience, and acted to compensate her. At the same time, the chain is conducting a thorough review to examine the details of the incident and is reinforcing procedures with staff, in order to prevent similar cases and ensure a respectful and equal hospitality experience for all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr. Leslie Chen Mrejen, 37, a Tel Aviv dentist who immigrated from Paris seven years ago, planned to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[134,111,139,556,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-216829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nutrition","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}