After Betar Illit Mayor Meir Rubenstein; Elad Mayor Yisrael Frush; and Emmanuel Local Council leader Eliyahu Gafni told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a harshly-worded letter on Sunday that they would not forgive him for casting the Haredi community as "spreaders of disease," the government decided to scrap the idea of localized lockdowns in cites and towns designated red under the traffic light system and shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday were debating alternatives on a conference call.
One proposal under discussion was the possibility of a night-time closure for red cities, towns, and local authorities that would be in effect from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. School would not take place in these communities.
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Ministers have been asked to approve the alternate framework after Netanyahu worked it out with Health Minister Yuli Edelstein and Haredi ministers Aryeh Deri and Yakov Litzman.
The letter to Netanyahu stated: "We have all faced difficult battles, at home and outside, to take various steps to remove [COVID] carriers from our cities, carry out as many tests as possible, maintain social distancing, and locate and shut down places with potential to cause outbreaks. We have changed the equation by significant percentages, through personal initiative and by rebuilding trust that has been eroded at the national level," the Haredi leaders wrote.
"As the person in charge of this crisis, you have never bothered to listen to us, to understand our distress or try to promote real initiatives to flatten the curve. You never gave us your ear or bothered to ask, understand, or study what characterizes a sizeable portion of the population in Israel," the leaders wrote.
"Time after time, you instated closure after closure on Haredi cities. They never bore fruit, otherwise, we would all support them and do everything in our power to implement them. Every such closure led to a breakdown of trust and a move backward in terms of [people's] willingness to contract the virus or uphold public health regulations. When the barricades came down, we found ourselves back at the starting point," they said.
"We inform you that the Haredi public will not forget the wrong done to us. We will not forget who signed off, time after time, labeling us as 'spreaders of disease' and enemies of the people, on selective punishment for so many families in the Haredi sector.
"The decisions you made were without reason or public health benefit and were aimed directed at the Haredi public. We see you as the only person responsible for these punitive steps, for the disrespect to tradition and our hone as legitimate citizens of this country. We cannot remain silent any longer," the letter stated.
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Prior to the government decision to revisit the planned lockdown, the Israel Police said it was preparing to handle "any scenario" once 30 cities, towns, and local authorities, as well as individual neighborhoods.
"The police is preparing for clashes in the Haredi sector, given the concern that large areas of the cities and towns to be shut down will not cooperate," police officials said Sunday.
"Ultimately, this is a decision made by the government. Citizens and local leaders are supposed to cooperate in order to reduce the spread of the virus. In cases of resistance, we will address every case individually. The commanders in the field have been instructed to hand any case of resistance off to the upper ranks, so they can be handled responsibly," the police said.
The Israel Police also noted that all of the police force's sub-districts had plans to enforce a full lockdown ready, and said that police were prepared to go into communities and patrol to ensure that there were no illegal gatherings or business activity in violation of regulations, and that residents were wearing masks and observing restrictions.
Members of the Transportation Police have been charged with enforcing restrictions on public transportation.
Starting Monday, the 3,000 police assigned to enforce coronavirus regulations will be backed up by 500 soldiers.
