Arad's mayor Yair Meyan issued a sharp rebuttal Sunday to allegations that a youth shelter for at-risk teens is being evacuated to accommodate a Gur Hasidic facility.
The claim appeared in a Facebook post by secular activist Naor Narkis, distributed in a group titled "Seculars and Unapologetic Secularists." According to the post, youth center workers and volunteers have endured a year of violence, stone-throwing, and harassment by students from an adjacent Gur yeshiva, with no municipal response until the decision to evacuate was made.
Mayor Meyan categorically denied the allegations. "No youth shelter in Arad is being evacuated. No building in the city is being evacuated this year," he stated. According to his statement, a municipal and police investigation found no record of any stone-throwing incidents or confrontations at the facility over the past year.
Meyan concluded by attacking Narkis directly, stating: "Narkis was not selected in the primary and is seeking to continue incitement against the religious in order to foment sectarian hatred in the country."
The dispute reflects ongoing tensions between secular and Haredi communities in Arad. The specific allegations—violence, property damage, harassment—are concrete and would be subject to municipal and police records. Meyan's flat denial suggests either the incidents did not occur or were not formally documented.
Neither the youth shelter administration nor Gur representatives have issued public statements. Municipal records and police logs would resolve the factual dispute, though those are not yet publicly available.
