The Tel Aviv headquarters of WeWork Israel on Monday informed members of its central Jerusalem offices that it is forbidden to pray on the premises due to “safety hazards,” and has threatened legal action if such activity continues.

The extraordinary letter, sent by an Israeli attorney for the organization and a copy of which was reviewed by JNS, warns of legal action against any members who persist in assembling for prayer at the site.

The letter states that members had been told “not once“ that the usage of meeting rooms for afternoon prayers causes “crowding in the meeting rooms, bothers other office members, and, more than anything else creates safety hazards.”

Should the illicit prayer services be continued, “my client will be forced to take every legal measure at its disposal, with respect to that member in the community complex, including recourse to courts of law and/or termination of the agreement,” it continues. The two-page letter, dated May 12, is signed by WeWork General Counsel Nirit Henig Strahovsky.

WeWork members at the city’s King George Street site have been holding afternoon prayer services in the building for the last six years, since its opening.

“Someone in the office management in Tel Aviv decided that it was impossible for Jews to pray a 10-minute prayer in the capital of the Jewish state,” tweeted Jerusalem resident and WeWork member Jonathan Pacifici, 46.  “I, and I assume many others, will look for another office in a place where they don’t hate anything Jewish.”

However, the company denied that the matter has anything to do with religion.

“At our other campuses in Israel, where space permits, prayers are held at the discretion of members,” a WeWork Israel spokesman wrote to JNS on Tuesday. “However, unfortunately at the Jerusalem campus there is currently no appropriate solution due to space constraints. The matter has nothing to do with prayer, or any religion.”

According to the spokesman, the reason the letter had been sent now, despite prayer services having been held in the building for six years, was that the facility’s occupancy now stood at over 90%, meaning that the number of people attending the prayer services now significantly exceeded the rooms’ capacity.

Not all of the WeWork members are convinced, however.

“What saddens me the most is the feeling that this was done intentionally, because if there was a technical or logistical problem then a solution could easily have been found,” Pacifici told JNS.

Ironically, an ad for a WeWork hub in Abu Dhabi specifically showcases “multi-faith prayer rooms in addition to bright lounges and private offices.”

WeWork Israel is a franchise of WeWork managed by the Israeli real estate company Ampa Group.

Image -  Gili Yaari/Flash90