Tel-Chai Nation

Here's some more news on Times of Israel about which areas will undergo closure due to mass infections:

Ministers were set Monday to rule on enforcing a tighter closure over eight cities and 15 ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem to stem the coronavirus outbreak.

The cities set to be included in the decision are Tiberias, Elad, Migdal Haemek, Beitar Illit, Ashkelon, Or Yehuda, Modiin Illit, and parts of Beit Shemesh.

The Jerusalem neighborhoods that are to be sealed include Har Nof, Bayit Vegan, Givat Mordechai, Ramat Shlomo, Sanhedria, Shmuel Hanavi, Beit Yisrael, Mea Shearim, Geula, Bucharim, Zichron Moshe, Ramot, Makor Baruch, Givat Shaul, and Kiryat Moshe.

Ministers were also expected to approve extending the lockdown of Bnei Brak — which began on Friday after the ultra-Orthodox town recorded one of Israel’s largest outbreaks of the coronavirus — for a further week.

It remains unclear what the new guidelines will be, though they will likely include a broader military presence to enforce the restrictions. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said on Sunday night that Jerusalem would be divided into eight regions, with residents only allowed to shop for essential supplies within the borders of their regions.

Israelis are already banned from venturing more than 100 meters from their homes, with exceptions made for work and purchasing essential supplies.

The new restrictions are, however, expected to be less severe than those currently in place in Bnei Brak, with the Ynet news site terming them a “breathing closure.”

They must still ensure Haredi extremists and Islamists can't access safer areas where they could possibly endanger people due to infections. Several of the neighborhoods cited above are Haredi communities, and they'll have to be managed well at a time like this.

Update: Belgium, which has a significant Haredi community, may be facing similar problems.

Update 2: now here's some eye-opening information about the nonagenarian guru of the extremist Eda Haredit: he's been infected too:

The nonagenarian leader of the Eda Haredit, a hardline anti-Zionist Haredi group based in Jerusalem that initially sought to avoid some government regulations aimed at thwarting the spread of the coronavirus, has contracted the disease.

Rabbi Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss, 95, was diagnosed on Thursday after being tested the previous day. He had been admitted to the hospital on Wednesday with a high fever and low blood pressure, according to reports in Haredi media.

[...] The group initially refused to shut down its affiliated educational institutions, closing kindergartens but keeping schools and yeshivas open in defiance of government guidelines. Its former spokesman said it did limit physical proximity there. On Monday, however, it released a notice instructing its followers in the ultra-Orthodox community to heed the Health Ministry’s orders or commit a “big sin.”

In the notice, the religious authority warned of the dangers of the pandemic and said all state instructions from medical authorities must be followed. It added that prayers can be conducted outdoors, if distance is kept between worshipers, in accordance with ministry rules which have since been superseded.

It took getting infected himself to at least convince the anti-Zionist extremist to call for some safety measures among his foolish followers. Now, he could be paying a heavy price for all the trouble people like himself have caused for this country, by commanding his cultists to resist military service and hold up traffic in public.

Update 3: there was, however, a terrible incident just 2 days ago of extremists who attacked medical workers who'd come to conduct a virus test for a patient. Such barbarism is abominable and requires serious preventative action.

Labels: belgium, communications, Europe, haredi corruption, islam, Israel, Jerusalem, Knesset