On Thursday evening, the Coronavirus Cabinet of the Israeli government issued a decree that all “red” cities according to the recent traffic-light-initiative would be placed under full lockdown as of Monday. The lockdown will last for one week and is a last-ditch effort by the government to slow the Coronavirus down before the Yomim Nora’im. 31 Cities and towns across the country, mostly with either predominant Arab, Druze, or Chareidi populace, fall into the category of being a red city where the spread of the virus has spiked in recent weeks.
Prime Minister Netanyahu explained the reasoning behind the move. “For an entire month, we had a high – even very high – but stable level of morbidity. In recent days there has been an increase, and a very dramatic increase yesterday. Today, in the Corona Cabinet, we decided to make an immediate effort to block this increase in morbidity. We made a decision to enact lockdowns on the red cities from which infection is spreading both within the cities themselves and to the rest of the population of Israel.”
Netanyahu continued, “I request the cooperation of every Israeli citizen in order to block this morbidity. It is important for the health of each and every one of you.”
It is worthy to note that both Chareidi members of the Corona Cabinet, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) and Construction and Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) voted against the planned lockdown.
The lockdown will last for one week. In a similar fashion to the rules that applied to the whole country after Purim, during the new lockdown, residents will be required to stay within 500 meters of their homes. Public transportation will be severely curtailed and most businesses will be required to close. All schools, including Yeshivos and Seminaries, will be closed, with the exception of special education programs. Only people considered essential workers will be allowed to enter or exit the cities.
In addition to the cities, parts of Jerusalem will also be placed under lockdown.
The Old City will be included in the lockdown, along with a number of predominantly Arab neighborhoods such as A-Tur, Shuafat, Wadi el-Joz, and Sheikh Jarrakh.
The full list of “red” cities is as follows:
Jewish cities include Elad, Rekhasim, Kfar Aza, Bnei Brak, Beitar Illit, Beit Shemesh, and Tiberias.
Muslim towns include – Umm al Fahm, Zemer, Taiybe, Tira, Ka’abiyye-Tabbash-Hajajre, Kfar Bara, Kfar Kana, Kfar Qassem, Lakiya, Sheikh Danun, Ein Mahil, Ar’ara, Fureidis, Qalansawe, I’billin, Jaljulia, Jat
Druze towns include – Dalilat al-Carmel, Isfiya, Beit Jan, Kisra-Sumei, Abu Snan, Buq’ata, Dalilat al-Carmel, Maale I’ron.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
The number of cases is very subjective since it is based on testing. Random test of the population for antibodies are a better indicator of how many people have had the disease. The number of deaths report is a tiny blip compared to the number who die anyways, and that number is so low that is suggests no need to have massive lockdowns. This suggests those pushing to “crack down” on the frum community are motivated by something other than public health, e.g. biogtry. If the “crack downs” are justified, it would suggest that there is a massive coverup and Israeli deaths are in the tens of thousands (not hundreds), which is possible since a country at war tends to avoid releasing health data that will benefit their enemies (that was the problem in 1918). However if news accounts of deaths are true, there is no health reason for the extreme measures, and the growing skepticism among the frum community is justified.