This week in Jerusalem: Send your order

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The Wolt delivery chain will establish a central supermarket here, open 24 hours a day for deliveries only, operating from the complex that used to be the legendary club Ha’oman 17, which closed several years ago. The 650-square-meter space in the Talpiot Industrial Zone, which used to house iconic dance floors attracting people from all over the country, will now bring to the capital a new kind of supermarket.

Wolt Global has signed a six-year lease, with an option to extend it. It will invest a large budget to convert the site for its new purpose. The Wolt concept involves an access road for delivery motorcycles only, so no parking will be required. The business will operate every day of the week, including Saturdays and holidays. Purchases will be made online with a commitment to deliver within an hour of receiving the order. The plan is to open by the end of the year, depending on war developments.

Back from Europe

The Education Ministry announced that due to the wave of antisemitism in Europe since the start of Operation Swords of Iron, 215 student delegations to Poland set for this winter have been canceled. The ministry further stated that shelving the trips at this early stage prevents financial damage to parents whose children are scheduled to go and to suppliers such as airlines and hotels. In view of the importance that the ministry attaches to the preservation of Holocaust remembrance, it is now working on finding alternative solutions for trips combining the memory of the Holocaust with the connection to the people, the homeland, and the values of volunteerism and social cohesion.

Indictments in the offing

The war on incitement following Hamas’s murderous October 7 attack continues. Since last Shabbat, the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office has filed 10 new indictments against city residents for inciting terrorism and identifying with a terrorist organization. Since the beginning of the war, 76 such indictments have been filed, the majority of them against residents of east Jerusalem. In all cases, the prosecution asked to arrest suspects until the end of the proceedings. The indictments were approved by the legal adviser to the government and the state attorney.

The indicted Jerusalem residents include Muhammad Aliyan, in his 60s, for posting on his Facebook page – which has about 5,000 members and 30,000 followers – posts praising and encouraging acts of terrorism, as well as expressing sympathy for and identification with Hamas. One post, referring to the massacre, read: “This is a ray of hope that destroys the spaces of immense darkness, and there is no harm in being very optimistic.”

Another indictment was filed against Mahmoud Khatib, in his 40s, who operates three Leumit health clinics in east Jerusalem, for posting two videos on TikTok. The first shows Israelis fleeing the Supernova festival alongside the caption, “This tiger is a paper tiger.” In the second, he sings a song of praise for the Hamas terrorists: “Sing! The men advanced, and the blood flowed.”

Bara Amro, in his 20s, was indicted for posting photos and videos on Instagram expressing support for Hamas and for terrorism. In one video, which shows photos of children’s bodies, he wrote: “When you see the Gazawi beheading with an ax, you will know why they came to this situation.”

Help!

The Ha’Ogen Fund offers business owners special emergency loans in light of wartime economic distress. The municipality will assist Jerusalem businesses in writing business plans and submitting applications at no cost for loans under preferential terms. The aim is to help businesses not only recover from the crisis but also to grow from it.

Business owners in Jerusalem and the country as a whole have suffered a difficult blow since the outbreak of war. Many did not work at all during the first two weeks following the October 7 attack; after that, when they returned to work, turnover decreased. This is another step the municipality has taken since the beginning of the campaign to help local commerce overcome the challenges arising from the security situation. ❖