Identity struggle in Jerusalem: 'Psimta' café as a symbol of the division between secularists and extremists

Israeli Alma Ronen exchanged her military uniform for a T-shirt and jeans, and headed to a cafe in Jerusalem, hoping to enjoy her vacation on Saturday. But, as has been the case almost every week and for months, ultra-Orthodox Jews are trying to dissuade her and the other pioneers from doing so.

Outside the "Pasimta" café, located close to a neighborhood inhabited by ultra-Orthodox Jews, dozens of men and teenagers wearing black suits stand and chant "Shabbat!", meaning Saturday, the holy day for Jews.

On the other side, there is a completely contradictory scene with the pink banners of secular Jews blowing their whistles to cover the chants of their opponents, and one of them raises a banner that reads, “Our sacred right to drink coffee.”

Hours later, the Haredi demonstrators left the vicinity of the café, returning the following week, most likely to find a waiting line that was longer every Saturday than the previous one.

For two months, this café in central Jerusalem has become the focus of a conflict between secular Jews on the one hand, and on the other hand, extremists who are demanding that it be closed during the weekly day of rest that Jews observe from Friday evening to Saturday evening. During this period, Jewish teachings prohibit working, traveling by car, and turning on or off electricity.

This tense scene embodies two aspects of Israeli society approaching legislative elections on October 27, which are considered a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which will be the first since the war in the Gaza Strip.

Inside the café itself, only a few of those confrontations taking place in the street are visible. Located in a backyard in the Nahlaut neighborhood of Jerusalem, the Psimta Café is run by people affiliated with Jews for Jesus, a movement that combines Jewish identity with Christian belief in Jesus as the Messiah.

Adele Ben-David, from Berlin, runs the café with her husband, Yoel Ben-David. She explains that the protests constitute a huge burden and it is difficult to predict their course every weekend, but she stresses her determination not to give up.

“If we closed our doors now, the Haredim would know that they could close all places sooner or later,” she said in an interview with the German Tagesschw website. So for her it has long been more than just running a café.

Laura Wharton, a secular protester, also believes that the dispute over Psimta represents a model of a broader societal conflict. The central issue is the extent to which religious groups control public life in Israel, and the space remaining for secular lifestyles.

Wharton adds that the café has become a symbol for many Jerusalemites. It is not just about wanting to drink coffee on the Sabbath, but “we want a government that is committed to basic liberal and democratic values.”

Netanyahu has relied politically on the support of religiously ultra-Orthodox Jews for nearly two decades. The Prime Minister, who is currently at the head of the most right-wing government in the history of the Hebrew state, has allowed this sect to enhance its influence and gains.

Aya Lefkovich, a member of the Pink Front movement who came from Tel Aviv on Saturday to help protect the café in Jerusalem, believes that every Israeli has the freedom to choose whether or not to observe the Sabbath.

“Everyone should be free to rest as they please, and not be dictated to by a small, government-backed minority,” she says.

On the other hand, an Orthodox Jew sharply told one of his opponents, “I don’t want my children to see an open café when they leave the house” on Saturdays.

He adds, "It's not that I don't respect you, but this harms my family's faith. When you say you're Jewish, it means commitment."

The demonstrators belonging to the ultra-Orthodox Jewish movements, from whom Agence France-Presse reporters tried to obtain statements, refused to make any comment, saying that this violates the rules of the Sabbath.

Many secular Israelis express their dissatisfaction with Haredi Jews receiving scholarships for their religious studies and being exempt from military service.

Ronen, who fought with the Israeli army in Gaza and southern Lebanon, explains, "I feel deeply angry at the idea of ​​forcing only a certain group to perform military service."

The issue of exemption from conscription, which dates back decades, has become more sensitive in recent years, in light of the Israeli army’s need for more soldiers in light of the multiple wars that the Hebrew state has been waging since the outbreak of the last Gaza war.

The issue of forced conscription has become a major focus of the election campaign, as Netanyahu's rivals pledged to end the exemption granted to ultra-Orthodox Jews.

According to a study published by the Jewish People's Policy Institute last year, 53% of Israeli Jews consider themselves completely or partially secular. But the 2023 attack, the deadliest in the country's history, pushed more Israelis toward religion.

But according to Shlomit Ravitsky Tor Paz, director of the “Religion and State” program at the Israel Democracy Institute, society is gradually becoming more secular, with more services available during the Sabbath holiday.

But it indicates that religious Jews represent an increasing percentage of the population, due to the high birth rate among the ultra-Orthodox, who now represent 14.3% of the population, according to the Institute of Israeli Studies.