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Rishon Lezion against new Azrieli mall
City council members, small business owners, environmental protection organizations demand plans to build new mall in central city be halted, saying it will deal fatal blow to existing businesses
Ofer Petesrburg
After successfully foiling Ikea's plans to construct a large commercial area
in the central city of Rishon Lezion, hundreds of small business owners, environmental protection organizations and council members are launching a new struggle, this time against David Azrieli.
The Azrieli Group entrepreneur plans to build his next mall above the parking lot of the city's train station.
In a letter to Attorney Shuki Amrani, chairman of the Central District Planning and Construction Committee, city council member Gil Yodfat, who heads Rishon Lezion's environmental organization wrote, "Rishon Lezion has an excess of commerce, and there is no need for another mall.
"The city is the most densely packed in the country in terms of commercial areas."
He added in his letter that hundreds of small business owners also plan to launch a public struggle against the construction of the mall.
According to Yodfat, "The planned mall completes directly and fatally with the existing commercial centers in the cities of Rishon Lezion and Nes Ziona. It is very close to the old commercial heart of Rishon Lezion… it will certainly cause the downfall of hundreds of small businesses."
The Azrieli Group currently own nine shopping malls throughout Israel, with centers in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Beersheba, Modi'in, Holod, Hod Hasharon, Herzliya and Or Yehuda.
The Azrieli Group said in response: "The Azrieli Group is working in full coordination with the authorities to receive all the relevant permits to advance the project. As in all Azrieli Group projects across the country, this is a project of extraordinary standards in the public's interest."
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