Health Ministry officials will most likely instruct Israelis to celebrate the Yamim Tovim in Tishrei with only their nuclear family and ban gatherings with extended family, Yisrael Hayom reported on Tuesday.

A senior Health Ministry official told Yisrael Hayom that no final decisions have been made on the topic and will be made only according to the morbidity data in the coming weeks.

However, the official added that “the prevailing assessment right now that there will be no choice but to order Israelis to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with only the nuclear family based on the data on the current spread of the virus in Israel and internationally and the warnings of most countries and the WHO about the coming months.”

The assessment is also based on the fact that an analysis of the sources of coronavirus infections shows that a significant percentage of coronavirus infections occur at home.

Furthermore, health ministry officials say that Rosh Hashanah meals often take place with dozens of family members and guests, including grandparents and other elderly people, putting high-risk sectors at increased risk of contracting the coronavirus.

However, unlike Pesach and Yom Ha’atzmaut, when the government imposed a legally binding lockdown on Israelis to prevent them from participating in gatherings, officials say that the government may only recommend that Israelis refrain from gatherings without legally enforcing it.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)