The mayor Tel Aviv told Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth on Friday that having an “ultra-Orthodox” majority in Israel would turn it “into a fundamentalist state like Saudi Arabia”.

Ron Huldai, who has expressed a strong interest in maintaining the secular nature of Tel Aviv, criticized the government for funding hareidi educational programs without maintaining any control over the curriculum.

He also vowed during his term to begin operation of Tel Aviv’s public transportation on Shabbat.

Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau expressed “pain and disappointment” in a resolution by the Tel Aviv-Jaffa city council seeking permission to operate public transportation on Shabbat.

In a letter to Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai pleading with him to reverse the council’s decision, Lau wrote “This decision harms the history of Tel Aviv, which was founded 103 years ago as the first Hebrew city,” and Lau wrote in a statement.  Lau said he was writing in the name of the thousands of people who keep Shabbat who supported his election.”