Meir Rubinstein, the mayor of Beitar Illit which is classified as a “red city” with a high rate of coronavirus infections, was documented while in a sukkah filled with people who were not keeping the proper distance and without wearing masks, Channel 13 News reported on Thursday.
The city said response, "The mayor was invited to a radio interview on a program that took place today in Beitar Illit, and participated in it for several minutes according to the guidelines, just as interviewees appear in studios every single day. We regret the fact that every haredi figure is persecuted these days."
Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned against violating the guidelines during the holiday of Simchat Torah, and called on the haredi public to refrain from gatherings that would lead to a spike in morbidity and death as a result of coronavirus.
In an interview with Kol Barama radio, Netanyahu said, "Take care of yourselves, no dancing on Simchat Torah. There is no greater blasphemy if we lose a life because of Simchat Torah. Pray outside, keep the guidelines, and thus sanctify both the Torah and life.”
“The haredi public is close to me, I love it very much. I saw the mobilization of the haredi public in the first wave and the mobilization of the rabbis to adhere to the guidelines. The haredi public lives in greater density and it is more difficult, but it does not exempt us all from trying harder,” he added.