The Toldot Aharon hasidic group says it will not enforce gender segregation in the streets of the Jerusalem religious neighborhood of Mea Shearim over the Sukkot holiday.

Thousands of people will stream through the streets during the holiday, as visitors, on their way to other locales in Jerusalem, or on route to the Old City.

The group came to an agreement with Jerusalem police and the city municipality not to impose gender separation, or to put in place ushers to guide men and women to different parts of the street, according to a report in Ynet.  A fence to maintain order will be erected for the large Simchat Beit HaShoeva celebration and water-throwing ceremony, but will not have any impact on the mixing of men and women on the street or in the area.

Gender segregation in Mea Shearim and other Jerusalem neighborhoods has been imposed by religious leaders in the past, including separate entrances to various zones.

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that police must act to prevent gender separation on the streets.

A majority of Israel’s Supreme Court judges on Tuesday accepted petitions against the Tal Law, which provides an exemption from military service to yeshiva students. The ruling also reveals the sharp differences between outgoing, activist Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch, who advocated nullification of the law, and the incoming president of the incoming, conservative Chief Asher Grunis who sought to reject the petitions.

Beinisch wrote: “Time has proven that the law has not fulfilled its underlying purposes, and, in fact, anchored the law, almost entirely, in the deferment arrangement that existed prior to its enactment and vice versa.”

The new Chief Justice for his part, wrote: “I would have preferred that the court avoid the issue altogether, leaving it in the public sphere, outside the realm of the court.”

Two of the four new judges appointed to Israel’s Supreme Court will be inaugurated this morning at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, just a week before the retirement of Chief Judge Dorit Beinish.

The two, Noam Solberg and Zvi Zilbertal, served until today as judges in the Jerusalem District Court. Solberg, who lives in the settlement of Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion, is viewed as a conservative, while Zilbertal, whose appointment had the support of Beinish, is considered to the left of his colleague.