An ultra-orthodox Jewish man is seen next to Intel's Jerusalem office building, 14 Nov 2009Alleged violations of the Jewish Sabbath by a top international companyprompted religious protests in Jerusalem on Saturday-the biblical dayof rest.

About1,500 angry ultra-Orthodox Jews demonstrated at the Jerusalem factoryof computer giant Intel, to protest the electronic chip maker'soperations on the Sabbath.

Chanting the Yiddish word forSabbath, they charged that work is forbidden on the holy day of restaccording to the Bible and called on the company to stay closed onSaturdays.

Intel has operated on the Sabbath in Jerusalem foryears, so it is not clear why the protests broke out now. But there hasbeen a wave of religious demonstrations since a parking lot opened onthe Sabbath near an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood several months ago.

The unrest points to the deep divisions between the secular majority in Israel and the ultra-Orthodox minority.

Jerusalem Post correspondent Haviv Rettig Gur says the religious protesters do not recognize the State of Israel.

"They'rea small group and their purpose is to show their own strength againstthe general society which they feel is a mockery of Jewish identity ora mockery of what a Jewish society should be. That's their view ofZionism," he said.

Gur says there is a culture war between ultra-Orthodox and secular Israelis, and a fringe group has taken it to the extreme.

"Theydon't quite trust the Israeli political system or the police or all thestructures of authority and so a very tiny group has declared a war onthe entire Israeli mainstream," he said.

The Intel protests pitholy tradition against high-technology and point to the dilemma oftrying to apply ancient Jewish law in a modern Jewish state.