Social media is exploding in Israel the past 24 hours, over the massive police crackdown enforcing the wearing of masks. Not wearing a mask can cost you a person a 500 Shekel ticket. But local residents are claiming that Police are stalking the Chareidi communities and giving an abundance of tickets, while irreligious people are given warnings and free passes.
Whatever the case is, people are on edge, and walking around filming every incident, looking to catch the double standard by the Police.
It began with viral video of two policemen who stopped a 13.5-year-old Chareidi girl on Rechov Sarei Yisrael in Jerusalem, who according to witness reports, was wearing a mask but moved it off her mouth for a minute to drink something in the hot afternoon sun.
One of the witnesses said when one of the policemen saw that passerby were videoing the incident, he went to his police car and removed his nametag and threw in the car. At that moment, the policemen pounced on her and began writing out a fine for not wearing a mask. The girl burst out crying but the policemen paid no attention to her.
Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, dozens of liberal Israelis were protesting freely outside the Prime Ministers Residence in Jerusalem, with virtually no one wearing masks – as Police just sat in their cars and did nothing.
On Wednesday morning, police arrested a man at the Zichron Moshe Steeblach in Yerushalayim for not wearing a mask.
Police were out in force in Bnei Brak on Wednesday stopping people and issuing fines to anyone not wearing a mask.
The Police officer in the next video was writing out tickets for people not wearing masks – when he HIMSELF wasn’t wearing one!
Another officer was writing out 500 Shekel fines for not wearing masks, when his own mask wasn’t covering his nose.
But if you’re not Chareidi, police just give you a warning…..
Here is another Police officer seen walking with another man, both of whom had their masks around their necks. When confronted and asked for his badge number, the officer ignored him and kept walking. Ordinary citizens would be issued a fine for the way they were wearing their masks.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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35 Responses
When did Deblassio become police commissioner of Israel?
There are four videos of police giving tickets o Haredim. Is it suggested that four or less tickets were given to chilonim? That would be a double standard. No one bothers o film the chilonim getting tickets because that does not show what is wanted o be shown. To protect public health it is required to wear a mask. Period.
Do you see us rioting or protesting?? No. Why? Because we are not ANIMALS!!!!!!!!!!!
Fruits of lefty Haaretz and other anti Charedi outlets’ incitement.
Yes – in Israel, anti-chareidi sentiment is growing out of hand and around the world, it’s anti-Semitism. Same idea.
Let’s not blame the haters; they’re just Hashem’s messengers as Dovid Hamelech said re Shim’i ben Geira, “Ki Hashem amar lo kallel”.
Our job as shomrei Torah umitzvos is to try to get the message and make the necessary changes. One guess – stop sinas chinam amongst each other. Another guess – stop self-hatred.
Recognize that we and those around us have a tzelem Elokim and by definition have instrinsic value.
Sure you can disagree, but you don’t need to hate. No one is 100% lily white, but don’t paint the entire person in sinister black. An imperfect person still has a lot of fine straits. Focus on them. If we treat ourselves and others with respect, maybe chilonim will respect us too.
DeBlasio is a saint compared to the Zionists.
The saddest part of this is that the idol of Zionism still is an idol, despite this latest discrimination on their part against Torah Jews living under their oppressive rule.
jdf007, the Israeli police have always been like this. They don’t need De Blasio.
avreimi, yes, the videos show what is happening. They are not exceptional cases. Every cop who sees a haredi, even a 10-year-old girl, without a mask, writes a ticket. Police sit and watch Hilonim without masks and do nothing. It is absolutely selective enforcement. There’s no question about it. And the videos show clearly cops without name tags, because they removed them; that is itself a violation.
And the point is what it shows: That the police themselves do not take the “need” for masks seriously. It’s simply a law they use to fine people, but they don’t believe that it is at all necessary for safety. So why should we believe it is necessary? Your entire premise that “To protect public health it is required to wear a mask” is a LIE. It’s a FRAUD.
If you think otherwise, cite your evidence, but do NOT cite the so-called “experts” who have already shown us what frauds they are, because none of us are willing any longer to accept their word. We should never have accepted it in the first place. We should have resisted the lockdowns, which have proven to have been completely unnecessary and disastrous. We should have refused en masse to comply. We should have burned masks in public. Just like the Boston Tea Party.
It seems that the Golus is more profound, in the state of Israel. How ironic. And sad.
Yes, the Zionist state is just another chapter in our long and bitter Golus.
For this we cry…
May we all be zoiche to the ultimate and true Geuloh.
number six -where he can’t add 150 to 500 looks like a fake video….his uniform don’t look genuine either….
I don’t often compliment YWN, but I’d like to genuinely give them a yasher koach this time for not perpetuating anti-charedi sentiment, but indeed pointing it out this time. Thank you!
There is no anti chareidi attitude… there is an unfortunate attitude often in the chareidi communities that people are against them or masks are a plot against them…. they don’t have internet…they don’t have TV and they don’t realize whats really going on across the world… its of innocence but still a risk to society… the police are enforcing in every area.. i was in TLV on Rothchild today (secular capital) and i saw cops giving tix….
They are picking on us in boro park,
They are targeting us in Williamsburg,
They are out to catch us in Israel,
but it is totally not our fault, right?
how many masks are there in Boro Park? the same amount of non-charadim that are in boro park.
Only the non-jews in Williamsburg wear masks.
But it is of course ant-Semitism, Zionism, racism, and a specific hatred to charadim.
Then these Nazis cry when we Yidden put on our concentration camp uniforms, and protest against these Storm Troopers, in the street wearing them while rightfully calling them Nazis.
I cant decide whats worse, anti Semitism in the diaspora or anti chareidi in Israel.
מהרסיך ומחריביך ממך יצאו
RamatShilo: that is why the cops let all the demonstrators who demonstrated at BiBi’s house to hang around with out a mask; it is fact well known that they are anti charaidy. Listen to all the religious radio shows in Israel Kol Berama and Kol Chai they had a former police saying that it is known that the police target the Charaidi community, There are many video’s showing it. Back in April there was a non religious reporter going through a Chraidy neighborhood that went through a quarantine zone, when he was dressed like himself not one police officer stopped him. Whenever he dressed up with a hat and jacket he was stopped at every stop point. As far as saying that they are not informed, sorry to tell you, they are more informed then what you think. They just don’t get brain washed from the “main stream media” that feed people “FAKE NEWS”
For the doubters, the secular press in Israel is calling out the police on their double standard.
Joseph: Giving tickets to chareidim is on par with nazis? This has to be one of your sickest posts.
It’s funny to watch the comments
It’s very easy to distinguish the people who have sinas chareidim in their blood, they would have been part of the Eiruv Rav . They never fail to pounce on the chareidim, especially when they use things like “Pekuach Nefesh” as an excuse to pounce on chareidim…
Sick!
Joseph, maybe it’s because certain people in our community call them “Nazis” that they have a lower tolerance to our community. Treat them like humans, they’ll treat us with more humanity.
The chilonim want to be where we are. They are very jealous and it is this jealousy that irks them so that they harass us.
How many of the armchair warriors here put on a police uniform and serve in Israel? You can do so until age 70, you can also do so voluntarily. Think of the officer, everyone they pull over speeding says just warn me, everyone going with a 40 ton truck down a snake path says I didnt know, etc. You know what it is like to write fines? It is not pleasant. The burdens of the secular government are bad enough, it is not fun to cause someone economic hardship. The question is who will you have mercy on? The one who endangers or damages others in full knowledge or mistake, or the one who is hurt or endangered? The ones who endanger others must be called to task. This is the job of a police officer, greater mercy for those who deserve. It is easy to say an officer made a mistake. You often have a much harder time policing Jews than Arabs. The difference changes when violence enters. With Jews there are limits, Arabs do not draw limits. I would like to see all of you “Rachmana Litzlan” Yidden who curse the shlechta medina to put on a uniform in July and feel the sweat of the Israeli sun course down your spine. Lets see how perfect your patrol goes. There is no justifying anti Charedi bias. I do not target them when I am out there, I protect them. So lets see you go out from your galus and serve before you pretend to understand secular Jews putting their life on the life to defend Israel. Stop the comments Israel faces the real enemy Trump and his Deal of the Century minions……a much more serious danger than you can imagine. Pick up and go to Israel and fight for the Jewish people. Everyone is needed…..no one is absolved
there is an unfortunate attitude often in the chareidi communities that people are against them or masks are a plot against them…. they don’t have internet…they don’t have TV and they don’t realize whats really going on across the world…
No, RamatShilo, you are the one who doesn’t realize what’s really going on across the world. What’s going on across the world is that people are realizing that masks are a plot against them, and they are rebelling and refusing to wear them. And in other places police realize it too, and are refusing to enforce them.
Maybe they were giving tickets on Rothschild, but they were definitely NOT giving them at the demonstration on the video. And I can guarantee that not a single hiloni child was ticketed or handcuffed for not being masked.
zaidy78, you have it the wrong way around. People call them nazis because of how they behave. And people call police all over the world nazis when they behave like that. Any dictator or bully is a nazi.
I live in Beersheva. I’ve seen plenty of chilonim receiving tickets because they weren’t wearing masks. The police have been outside our building, watching the bus stops, every morning. I’ve seen police in the old city, handing out tickets. Instead of crying and shrieking that the police are giving too many tickets to the Chareidim, the simple solution is to wear a mask.
What is going on in this world? Is everyone crazy? Coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Israel. We already know it can kill. WHO CARES what the Chilonim are doing or not doing! If they want to be stupid and not wear masks, let them. Protect yourself and your family and JUST WEAR A MASK! It’s not that hard! Yes, the Israeli police are enforcing selectively – it’s just as easy to pick on Chareidi in Brooklyn as it is in Israel. We know that. But that’s beside the point – the important thing is to wear a mask – not to keep the police off your back but because it’s the right thing to do!
Milhouse: there is a new report from UC Davis Children’s Hospital you should review and which provides the evidence. In a Fox News report, the authors of the reports are quoted:
Blumberg and William Ristenpart, a professor of chemical engineering at UC Davis, appeared on UC Davis Live: Coronavirus Edition to discuss the topic of transmission. Ristenpart’s lab at UC Davis has studied how people emit small droplets while breathing or talking that could carry the virus.
The pair highlighted two primary methods of transmission. The first being visible droplets a carrier expels, which are roughly one-third the size of a human hair. They said masks create an effective barrier against those types of droplets.
“Everyone should wear a mask,” Blumberg said. “People who say, ‘I don’t believe masks work,’ are ignoring scientific evidence. It’s not a belief system. It’s like saying, ‘I don’t believe in gravity.’”
The second is via the aerosol particles we expel when we talk. They are about 1/100th the size of a human hair and are more difficult to defend against. He said that’s because the smaller particles could still sneak through a gap in rectangular or homemade cloth masks.
Social distancing and staying outdoors, are helpful for staying clear of the small particles because there is more airflow, Blumberg and Ristenpart said.
In any event, I find the debate silly. There is some evidence that it works and there is so very little of a downside to wearing it – even if there is just a small chance it works, people should extend themselves the little bit necessary to put on a mask. In other words, the potential benefit far outweighs any “cons.”
I also feel like you cannot be against the shut down and also against masks. I am against shutting everything down because the harm outweighs the benefit but in order to allow people to go back to school and work we need to be more responsible and take any small steps we can to avoid shutting down.
Lemayse, in Japan and South Korea where the population got with wearing masks really early in the game, the pandemic has not disrupted daily life.
You can’t please everyone
I’d think there is some latitude for tailoring enforcement to the circumstances of the community being patrolled. I’d ask
1. Is there a higher rate of infection in that particular neighborhood or community?
2. What is the level of overall compliance?
From what I’ve heard, religous neighborhoods have been hit disproportionately hard by Covid, and the level of compliance could be improved. So, I’d take the time to thank the next police officer for the work they do for the community.
Also, a 13 year old should have the seichel to answer a police officer truthfully and promptly, and not melt like a little snowflake because shes in trouble.
If this were a case of children playing in the street or even jaywalking, it wouldn’t be a story. The real issue is the “eiruv rav” of antivaxers, flatearthers, and anti Zionist zealots trying to prove their moshiach sheker Trump is right and masks are a scam.
Milhouse, Joseph, if officers were really Nazis- the individual would have been beaten, stripped naked of their clothing, thrown into the hot trunk of a car (or train) for days, their personal property in their apartment ransacked and stolen, and eventually gassed or shot in the forehead, with the family watching on the side. It sounds graphic, but it’s very appropriate that we factually understand what Nazis were, and what they’d like to do to Jews today. Those police officers were wrong and are wicked people, but by *NO* stretch of the imagination were they Hitler’s Nazis.
If the chareidim who are complaining of double standard just wore their masks then the police would have to leave (as should covid) and have to go to the chiloini area… why not give them what they want so they go away?
ymribiat
I don’t know where you live, but where I live in Israel, the police are lazy bums. The only times they jump to work is to give tickets out. Definitely wouldn’t be on my list of people to thank. This has nothing to do with being anti zionists or antivax(?!!!), this is just a simple fact.
I once called the neighborhood police man, because an arab worker was bothering my kids every day. His response, “I can’t come now, I’m busy.
The police in Israel have been acting this way since forever. DeBlasio learnt from them.
Do any of you know what it feels like to wear a mask all day in nearly 100 degree weather?!
I’ve done it many times. It feels like you are suffocating yourself alive! The other day, I basically fainted. BH I was in the doctors office, and he prevented that from happening.
If someone needs to take a break from the mask, they should be able to, as long as they are away from everyone.
Besalel, don’t be so quick to believe every “study’ that is published. We’ve already seen how this is manipulated for political purposes. And certainly don’t put too much trust in the “experts”. If there’s one lesson I hope most people will learn from this whole disaster it’s never to let “experts” run things.
TGI, not all nazis are as bad as the ones you describe. Even historically, in Germany itself during their reign, they weren’t all like that; but certainly in general most nazis are not nearly that bad. But they are still nazis. “Nazi” is basically a synonym for an officious bully, especially (but not necessarily) if he acts under color of law. Hence “grammar nazi”, “soup nazi”, etc.
OUTROUGES, Mea She’arim and Peleg, HUGE Chilel Hashem.
Interesting for first time YWN has been mistaken with the title. 😋 lol