Israel's Chief Rabbi David Lau hinted on Wednesday that he would support closing synagogues on Yom Kippur if health officials decide "it's the right thing to do."
Despite a general lockdown in place for nearly a week, the country's religious community has so far protested against the possibility of closing places of worship or banning public prayers, owing to disobey health restrictions if the government closed synagogues during high holiday period.
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While Rabbi Lau told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday that the religious public will not obey the guidelines until similar restrictions are placed on protesters, he now appears to have backtracked on the demand.
Religious leaders have balked at the suggestion that synagogues be closed while protesters are allowed to continue gathering in the thousands, mainly outside the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem to protest Netanyahu's handling of the coronavirus pandemic along with his corruption trial.
The development comes as the country broke a record of daily infections with nearly 7,000 new cases being identified on Tuesday alone, according to the latest data released by the Health Ministry.
The religious leader thus indicated that he would support the closing of synagogues "if the medical authorities decide that it can considerably reduce risk and save lives."
Netanyahu was expected to push for a tightening of containment at a coronavirus cabinet meeting Wednesday afternoon, and would even consider declaring a state of emergency in the country.
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This article was first published by i24NEWS.
