A riot broke out Monday afternoon at the Leonardo Hotel in Jerusalem, after dozens of people who were forced into isolation after returning from abroad tried to leave the hotel door and were forcibly repulsed by the security guards who pushed them inside.
Channel 12 News reported that people in quarantine also demonstrated at the Grand Court Hotel, demanding to be let out of isolation, and at Ben Gurion Airport dozens of passengers who landed from Dubai attempted to get an exemption from forced isolation in a hotel.
Yuval Peretz, who is staying in isolation at the Leonardo Hotel, told Channel 12 News: "They closed the doors on us and threated that if we do not go up to our rooms - we will receive reports and they will arrest us. We have been here since Saturday. They tricked us by saying there would be an exceptions committee here, and then they left. In the end were convinced and of course we have been here for three days with no committee and no shoes. There are people from outside here who came to demonstrate and support us."
Earlier, Deputy Health Minister MK Yoav Kish said he supported ending the Home Front Command's isolation obligation for Israelis returning from abroad.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz called for the reinstitution of an older Health Ministry directive by which citizens returning from abroad will be exempt from staying in a hotel if they agree to be tested for the coronavirus at the airport and to be quarantined at home.