separate skating issue on the ice block again

The City of Jerusalem is once again going to be opening an ice skating rink during the summer months in the Arena Stadium.

After complaints last year about the overwhelming amount of gender-separate skating hours, leaving supposedly only 4 hours per day for the general public to skate mixed, this year they say things will be different. Four full days will be blocked out for the religious/Haredi public for gender-separate skating, and the rest of the time will all be mixed skating.

Is mixed skating a problem because the ice is really just frozen water so mixed skating is really just mixed swimming?

Some in the general public are saying this is illegal and even if it can be worked out legally, as the operators think it can, it sets a bad precedent and will lead to more public activities being gender-separate, while in the religious/Haredi communities they are complaining about how they only get 4 days and not more out of the entire two months.
sources: Ynet and Kikar

Personally I think the Haredi community should be taken into consideration and a fair amount (however that is determined) of separate-skating days should be allocated for them. They are a significant part of the population and are consumers of public services just like anyone else and I think public services should be offered fairly and equitably in accordance with their lifestyle as well, as long as it isnt overly burdensome on the public. Making a few days of separate skating will greatly benefit them and wont be too difficult for the general public, considering they have a large amount of days with skating available in whatever way they want to skate, so a little consideration is a good thing.

------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel

------------------------------------------------------