Thousands of ultra-religious take to the streets in Jerusalem despite restrictions due to the coronavirus.
More than 300 ultra-Orthodox Jews were arrested Tuesday night in northern Israel for violating restrictions imposed during the pandemic. The police unceremoniously arrested the Jaredids (God-fearing), who were participating in the celebration of Lag Baomer, a massive fire-marked Judaism festival, on Mount Meron in Upper Galilee. The Government had banned traditional bonfires and limited the number of attendees to 150 in the commemoration of the anniversary of the death of the mystical rabbi Simon bar Yojai, before whose grave the main ceremony was held.
"There were hundreds of men, women and children on Mount Meron in violation of state of emergency regulations," police said in an official statement. The agents had to ask for reinforcements to dissolve a mass of ultra-religious, without masks or gloves. A flood of stones and all kinds of objects were unleashed.
The brawl in Upper Galilee was preceded on Monday night by massive rallies of ultra-Orthodox in the streets of its main fiefdoms, such as the Mea Shearim neighborhood, in Jerusalem (900,000 inhabitants), or in Beit Shemesh (60,000 residents), 40 kilometers west of the Holy City. The current state of the de-escalation of the containment measures of the covid-19, the authorities only allow meetings of up to 50 people, as long as they maintain physical distance. The Jaredi crowds were reproduced on Tuesday night in Jerusalem during the final Lag Baomer celebrations in Mea Shearim.
About three-quarters of the 16,500 Israelis infected with the coronavirus belong to the ultra-Orthodox community, which represents just over 10% of the population of the Jewish state. The Government had to close several of its cities and suburbs, such as the one of Bnei Brak (200,000 inhabitants) , on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, as well as a dozen ultra-religious neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday condemned the violation of sanitary restrictions, miners responsible for his Executive warned that the measures to close residential areas of God-fears - those most affected by covid-19 - will be reinstated if there is a re-emergence of the pandemic, which in Israel has been declining for weeks.
Israeli television channel 12 reported that a group of 200 Jaredis chartered an Israir company airliner to fly low over Mount Mearon. The same television station showed images of the interior of the aircraft in which the ultra-Orthodox crowded into the windows without maintaining the security standards established by the Ministry of Health.
In addition to having suffered more intensely from the plague of the coronavirus, the Jaredids have been marked by the social stigma of multiplying the contagion to the rest of the population - which has complied with confinements and curfews - by ignoring the containment measures. After propping up Netanyahu in power for five years, religious parties aspire to continue to maintain generous public funding for their educational and social centers as of Thursday within the new coalition, agreed by the Conservative Prime Minister with he centrist Benny Gantz.
The Minister of Health, the ultra-Orthodox of the UTJ Jacob Litzman, has directed the strategy against the coronavirus and has become the target of criticism for having tested positive after attending a massive prayer in a synagogue. He has finally given up on the portfolio. In the Jewish rite that follows Liztman, many ultra-religious leaders consider that Torah study alone protects the Jewish community from all danger.
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