the Haredi community of Tzfat is upset at the mayor (that they elected  - to remind you, if relevant, the Haredi community supported a secular mayor despite a Haredi mayor running in the recent electoral race).

the mayor has planned the first ever Ladino Festival in Tzfat. The festival will include a variety of performers performing throughout the city in a variety of performances, shows and workshops, including in the older part of the city that has a more Haredi population. The festival started yesterday and is running through Thursday.

According to Actualic, some rabbis in Tzfat have written the mayor a letter complaining about this breach of the status quo as such a festival has never before taken place and been held in the haredi neighborhood.

Interestingly, they see the status quo as such - they don't like the existing annual Klezmer Festival either, but don't complain about it because it has been going on for so long, but the status quo in existence is that no new festivals will be added. During the Klezmer Festival, many from the Haredi community plan to leave the city for those days. This is worse because the city is bringing singers, from around the world, some of whom are not Jewish and the Iryah brought them in to defile the city.

According to Kikar, tens of Haredim held a hafgana yesterday outside the mayor's home to protest the Ladino Festival. The mayor updated the Haredi city councilmen with information about events being planned specifically for the Haredi community over the summer vacation. I guess he knows he can buy quiet.

As always, status quo issues only ever work in one direction. And, I did not even see referenced any official status quo agreement. This one seems to be imaginary - just because the previous mayor did not organize any other festivals the community thinks now it is not allowed for anybody to do so.

Tzfat is a complicated and mixed city. Woe to us if we invalidate a secular person just because he is secular, and also woe to us if we would invalidate a haredi just because he is haredi. Each person should be judged on his own merits and his actions. I am happy there is unity among the secular, the haredi and the dati of Tzfat - that is the beauty of Tzfat.

  -- Rav Dov Kaplan, rav of Degel Hatorah in Tzfat on the decision of Degel to support Shuki Ohana for mayor despite being secular, even against the Haredi fellow running against him, Nachman Gelbach

halevai this would be the way we (myself included) think about others in the rest of the country..

Even though you are secular, you should know that Hashem loves you, but only if you choose a God fearing mayor in these elections...

  -- Rav Shalom Cohen, spiritual leader of Shas, regarding the second round of voting in the Tzfat mayora election, encouraging even secular voters to elect Nachman Gelbach.

I love it. God loves you, but only if you vote for the guy we want. If not you are probably destined for an afterlife of a toilet like the infidels in Bet Shemesh

I had not realized how bad the situation had gotten in Tzfat, with the secular and Haredi communities opposing each other.. until recently the heated pool was opened on Shabbos. This led to protests by the Haredi community.
source: Kikar and Kooker

When that happens, everybody hunkers down in their positions, and the fight escalates. Eventually, a solution and compromise will most likely be found, probably with the pool being closed on Shabbos, but in the meantime it is a fight.


The fighting has even gotten bad enough that the police have arrested one of the members of the Committee for Safeguarding Shabbos, for possible incitement.
source: Ladaat

Will Tzfat become the "next Bet Shemesh" with sectors fighting each other over their lifestyles?