MK Bezalel Smotrich, who heads the Religious Zionism party, has requested that vaccinated individuals and recovered coronavirus patients be allowed to pray in synagogues.
Turning to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Interior MInister Aryeh Deri (Shas), Health Minister Yuli Edelstein (Likud), and Housing Minister Yakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism), Smotrich asked that they advance a plan similar plan to the one which will allow the places of entertainment and culture to reopen.
In a letter sent Sunday night, Smotrich noted that this coming Shabbat (Sabbath) is the one prior to the Purim holiday, during which Jews read the section of the Torah which details what the Amalekites did to the Children of Israel after they left Egypt.
The weather, he said, is expected to be wintry and rainy, making it difficult to hold prayers outside and creating optimal conditions for illegal gatherings.
Smotrich also asked that the Cabinet make a clear and transparent decision which sets a uniform standard and which will bolster the public's faith in the government and which will allow synagogues to reopen according to the "Green Badge" plan. This, he said, will help the public feel that their values are taken into account during government decision-making.
"The basis for the public's cooperation with the plan to carefully return to normal is the presentation of a clear and transparent plan with a uniform standard for all areas," he wrote. "This will foster the public's faith in the process of making decisions, as well as a feeling among all communities in the State of Israel that their values are taken into account."