Tel Aviv’s Planning and Construction Committee approved Sept. 16 a new policy, turning permits for new strip clubs into an almost impossible mission. According to the new instructions, anyone wishing to open such a club would need a special authorization from the planning committee. Each request is then discussed separately. More so, opening a strip club without the proper permit would be considered a criminal offense.

The new regulations offer the committee grounds for refusal of changing designated land use in such cases. In practical terms this means a long and complicated process that is unlikely to end up with a permit.

The decision to adopt the new regulations was taken during a Zoom meeting. Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Tzipi Brand was quoted as saying at the meeting that "all such requests made for a business permit would automatically be refused. The municipality will eradicate this phenomenon. For us, these clubs objectivize and humiliate women. It is contrary to the values of the city. Parallel to this decision, the municipality will put in place a rehabilitation and employment program for the women who would lose their jobs as a result of this."

Women's Spirit (Ruach Nashit) works to promote the economic independence of female survivors of violence in Israel. It strives for social change from a feminist perspective and commitment to social and gender justice. The group hails the decision taken by the municipality. Its CEO Tamar Schwartz told Al-Monitor, "We support every measure that limits the operation of strip clubs, and I wish we could obliterate this phenomenon all together. These clubs are another space of oppression; they objectivize women, so that women are considered as objects and not as a whole person with feelings. These are the last remnants of patriarchy. In a world of equality there is no room for that."