Sabbath trumps Potter in Israel

Israeli bookstores have been warned against violating Sabbath closing laws to begin sales of the last installment of the Harry Potter series his weekend.

Stores found to be in violation will be prosecuted and fined, Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai said. The laws forbid Jewish employees from working between sundown Friday and sunset Saturday.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the finale in author J.K. Rowling’s seven-book series, will go on sale at 2:01 a.m. Saturday in Israel to coincide with its midnight release in London.

“The employees that are scheduled for the launching are not Jewish,” said Avi Shomer, chief executive of the Tzomet Sfarim bookstore chain. “Therefore, the law does not apply to them.”