In an interview with Arutz Sheva, MK Betzalel Smotrich referred to his proposal to appoint him haredi coronavirus liaison. For now, he says, he has not yet received an official answer or response from the Prime Minister. We wanted to know what he could contribute from his seat in the opposition.
"I received messages from people close to the Prime Minister that this is an issue awaiting his decision. Unfortunately, I haven't yet received his decision," says Smotrich, describing the severe distress in the haredi sector in the face of the virus and its spread:
"I've been to Beitar Illit and Jerusalem. I get countless messages from people. There's real distress, great chaos, no one's running things. There's no government cooperation with local leadership, neither rabbinical nor public. There's no explanation to citizens about the rationale of the closure, what the role of the government is, there aren't enough tests being done, there aren't hotels at a sufficient rate that will allow carriers to be taken out of the city, there are no economic solutions and civilian assistance as there was in Bnei Brak in the first wave under Roni Numa who was project manager and did it excellently."
Smotrich adds that in today's reality there are no economic solutions to the reality of closure, since while those who are in isolation receive financial compensation, closure has no similar solution. "We're talking about future economic plans, but it should be understood that someone in Beitar Illit, Jerusalem, or Ashdod who has 10 or 12 children to feed and doesn't go to work but is told that a day will come when there may be a compensation plan, but in the meantime he doesn't know how he's going to bring food to his children. He won't cooperate in any way, because he has to make a living.
"We must harness the population for cooperation, so the population understands the rationale of the closure, what the beginning point is, what point they want to reach, what the process is on the way, what the government should do, and that it's doing its part and not rolling the responsibility on him. "It's as if someone locked the city, threw the keys into the sea, and now you go manage on your own. There's great chaos. It's unclear who's allowed to go out and who isn't, how to get permits, what are the criteria for closure, when it will end."
Coronavirus failure: "The haredim feel locked in the city"
As to his own proposal, Smotrich says: "I've agreed to take on the task. I'm not a minister and I have no ministry to worry about so I can free 24 hours a day and if necessary also seven days a week to try to mediate efforts and produce a coherent rationale and clear government strategy vis a vis the population and local leadership to try and reduce the damage, create understanding, identification, and cooperation."
Can't a haredi MK do that? "It would have been much better if Deri had done it. He did it excellently in the first wave and he's unwilling to do it now because of a dispute over powers with the Health Ministry. I'm not asking for any powers. I'm willing to be a 'gopher' to mediate between the various parties.
"If there's someone who will dedicate himself fully to is he can certainly contribute. I don't know if I'll succeed or not, and if there's someone better than me it would be great if he did it, but in the current reality there's no such position and this incident isn't being managed, and there's an entire mess that only aggravates the situation."