Hundreds of people gathered overnight Saturday outside the home of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky in Bnei Brak and tried to break through the checkpoints set up near his home.
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who arrived at the rabbi's home after midnight, was unable to leave the home due to the large number of people who gathered there. Netanyahu's security guards ordered him to enter a nearby apartment, where he waited more than an hour before being rescued.
Rabbi Kanievsky will be laid to rest in the Bnei Brak cemetery on Sunday afternoon. Police believe that between 700,000 and one million people will attend the funeral. Police will begin blocking roads at 6:00 a.m.
Israel Railways will operate a direct train from the Yitzhak Navon train station in Jerusalem to the Bnei Brak train station in the north of the city, and from there a shuttle bus will take funeral participants towards Rabbi Akiva Street in Bnei Brak. The service began operating at midnight and will continue until 5:30 a.m.
Schools in Bnei Brak, as well as schools in Gush Dan cities such as Ramat Gan and Givat Shmuel, will hold remote learning on Sunday. Remote learning will also take place in kindergartens. Student transportation will be canceled, and tests will be postponed. Students at Bar Ilan and Ariel universities will learn remotely.