Archive: Coronavirus lockdown
Archive: Coronavirus lockdownIsrael Police

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri demanded at the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday that the criteria for the declaration of a neighborhood a restricted area be published before areas are closed off, so that the haredi community will not feel that it is being targeted by the government.

Prime Minister Netanyahu accepted Deri's request and ordered that the criteria for the closure imposed on each locality be published on the prime minister's website.

In addition, Minister Deri reiterated his request from last Thursday to compensate all businesses affected by the closure of their communities.

Deri said that he was furious at the "selective enforcement against the haredi community."

"We saw two demonstrations last night. One demonstration in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv with the participation of ten thousand people and a demonstration in the Romema neighborhood of Jerusalem with dozens of haredim. During the demonstration in Tel Aiv, social distancing was not maintained and the guidelines were not followed, but we did not see violence against the demonstrators," Deri said.

"In the Romema neighborhood, we saw a video in which a haredi man asked a policeman why he was not wearing a mask. The policeman responded by punching the haredi man in the face and then by preventing him from receiving any help. This was deliberate violence by the police against haredi demonstrators.

"On Friday, the heads of the haredi parties met with Internal Security Minister Amir Ohana. Minister Ohana was attentive to our concerns, but the violence has continued. As a representative of a haredi party in the government, I cannot accept the police's harsh violence against the haredim. This has to stop right now," Deri concluded.