Netanyahu to Hold Discussion With Chareidi MKs Over Lockdowns

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office said Sunday that the prime minister is to hold discussions Monday with Interior Minister Rabbi Aryeh Deri (Shas), Housing Minister Rabbi Yaakov Litzman and MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni of UTJ, and additional MKs, regarding the lockdown regulations imposed on chareidi cities and neighborhoods.

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein and Internal Security Minister Amir Ohana will also take part in the discussions, the statement said.

Earlier Sunday, Minister Rabbi Litzman met with Netanyahu after demanding an urgent meeting with the prime minister in order to discuss the harsh coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns set forth in chareidi neighborhoods, unlike in other cities across the country.

Rabbi Litzman claimed that the police were bullying the chareidi community and expressed an explicit prejudice against it while using violence, in contrast to other protests.

A chareidi demonstration against lockdown restrictions was clamped down with violence by police, at the same time as a similar demonstration in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square was allowed to proceed relatively undisturbed. Police brutality against members of the chareidi community has been widely documented in recent weeks, and the leaders of the chareidi parties met on Friday with Public Security Minister Ohana, and discussed implementing moves to build trust between the police and the chareidi community.