Tragedy at unlicensed "daycare center" in Haredi neighborhood where 2 children died from poison

Another disaster occurred in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Romema, home to many Haredi families, as 55 children in a "daycare center" lacking permits for operation suffered from a form of poisoning that killed at least 2:

Two babies died, and at least 55 more small children sustained injuries in an incident at a daycare center in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood on Monday, Magen David Adom (MDA) reported.

Three-month-old Lia Tzipora Golovnetsitz and six-month-old Aharon Katz died in the incident. According to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir, the cause of death was likely dehydration as a result of an overheated space.

The director of Hadassah-University Medical Center, Professor Yaniv Sherer, where many of the injured children were taken to for treatment and observation, told Maariv that the injuries and deaths probably resulted from "some kind of poisoning, with or without a combination of crowding, fever, or dehydration."

What makes this particularly horrific is that the living conditions in the center were horrible and shoddy:

Upon arrival at the scene, authorities noted substandard conditions at the daycare center that may have contributed to the tragedy.

A video seen by The Jerusalem Post appeared to show a bathroom containing a mattress meant for a baby to sleep on placed underneath a toilet bowl. This was corroborated by an emergency response team member who saw a baby wrapped in a blanket lying on the bathroom floor.

“Regarding the conditions, children in closets is not common,” one of the rescue workers said. “The kindergarten is in a small four-room residence. There were a lot of kids inside relative to the size of the facility.”

“Overcrowding, strollers in every corner – even in the kitchen – and babies lying in strollers and beds,” one of the rescue workers said.

There's extra documentation available here, which also says:

In a video published on Channel 13 News after the babies were evacuated to hospitals, rooms full of baby strollers are seen, some of them close together, placed densely.

Another recording shows a baby sleeping on a small mattress placed under a toilet, in conditions that raise serious questions about the environment in the daycare.

And, as noted here:

The daycare facility in question operated privately out of a private home, without a license and illegally. Three daycare workers were detained for questioning.

It's repulsive how certain segments of society are so desperate to live a segregated/isolated lifestyle to the point they're okay with unlicensed, dangerous conditions that endanger children. And then, they even riot against autopsy-based investigations, making things utterly worse:

Haredi extremists demonstrated at the Bar Ilan Junction in Jerusalem on Monday evening against the intention to conduct an autopsy on the bodies of two infants who died earlier in the day at a daycare center in the Romema neighborhood.

During the protest, which came as the infants' parents expressed opposition to the autopsies, demonstrators blocked major roads in the area.

The enraged haredim blocked the intersection of Bar Ilan and Yirmiyahu streets, preventing buses and cars from passing, and were heard calling law enforcement "Nazis." After a short time, police began to disperse the rioters using force to restore the flow of traffic.

All this does is desecrate the dignity of the victims even more. That they'd even set fire to trash bins and other debris, along with assaulting a passerby, is another very disturbing and hugely disappointing form of contempt that takes away attention from other more pressing issues like Islamic terrorism. The worst part is that the "gurus" who encouraged this undoubtably intended exactly that. Here's an op-ed writer who commented on the incident:

The first response came from parts of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) leadership. Instead of taking responsibility, they rushed to deflect blame toward coded enemies: “the attorney-general,” “the Supreme Court,” or the state. This response deserves unequivocal condemnation. It is morally wrong to politicize the deaths of children, and it reflects a deeper failure of leadership.

Leadership begins with accountability. When leaders refuse to acknowledge responsibility, they abandon the very people they claim to represent.

The second reaction asked an essential question: where was the State of Israel? Why is early childhood education, from birth to age three, so poorly regulated and effectively abandoned? This criticism is largely justified.

For years, this sector has existed in a regulatory vacuum, with inconsistent oversight and inadequate standards. However, recognizing the problem is only the first step. The solution cannot be regulation for its own sake. Over-regulation risks choking an already fragile system, as we have seen in parts of the kindergarten and school frameworks.

Responsibility cannot be deflected

What is needed is smart, enabling regulation – focused on safety, professional standards, and transparency – paired with serious budgeting. In my view, local authorities are well-positioned to take responsibility for this domain, but only if they are given the necessary resources and authority.

The third response was harsher: a sweeping indictment of haredi society itself, accusing it of repeated disregard for human life. At first glance, this seems to contradict the call for greater state responsibility. I believe it does not. Both can – and must – be true simultaneously.

Yes, the state must take responsibility for children aged zero to three. But at the same time, haredi society must take responsibility for itself.

Read it all, because we have to hope the state welfare system will start searching out these illegal daycare outfits that are understaffed and lacking in healthy environments for children. And indeed, as the following reports, quite a few have been discovered:

The deaths of two infants at an unlicensed daycare in Jerusalem have renewed scrutiny of Israel’s largely unmonitored childcare sector, where tens of thousands of toddlers are believed to be cared for in facilities operating outside state oversight.

[...] Professionals in the field estimate that about 114,000 toddlers are currently in childcare settings that operate illegally and without oversight.

Until 2021, Israel had virtually no regulation of early childhood frameworks outside state-subsidized daycares run by organizations such as WIZO and Naamat. A supervision law that came into force that year expanded reporting and oversight requirements to private facilities caring for seven children or more. Responsibility for enforcement was transferred to the Education Ministry in 2022.

[...] Education Ministry data show that since August, inspectors have identified 470 unlicensed daycares and nurseries operating illegally across the country. Of those, 70 have been shut down, and 20 others are under active closure orders being enforced in coordination with police.

One more reason why it's disgusting in the extreme that the Haredis would riot against law enforcement, and cause chaos in the streets, since all they're doing is committing violence in the name of infanticide. The culprits running the illegal daycare rooms are hopefully going to be indicted and imprisoned for the blood they now have on their hands. But even the Haredi leadership must be soundly condemned for repeatedly breaking the law, and continuing a culture of silence on serious issues.