Netanyahu denounces police violence against ultra-Orthodox protestors
PM, ultra-Orthodox leaders agree to join team to assess need for future lockdowns in ultra-Orthodox population centers.
By JEREMY SHARONUltra orthodox jewish men and youth seen during a protest against the closure on the Romema and Kiryat Belz neighborhoods in Jerusalem that is currently under a lock down in an attempt to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, on July 12, 2020.(photo credit: FLASH90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acceded on Monday to the demands of the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism on Monday to create a joint operations team to evaluate the necessity, or lack thereof, of imposing COVID-19 lockdowns on ultra-Orthodox population centers.The decision came during a meeting the prime minister held with the senior ultra-Orthodox political leadership to mollify their anger over perceived unequal treatment of the ultra-Orthodox community during the COVID-19 crisisDuring the meeting, UTJ’s representatives said that the recent shutdowns of ultra-Orthodox cities and neighborhoods had been an attempt by the government to “escape responsibility,” arguing that infection rates were not worse than in other sectors.In addition, the United Torah Judaism MKs expressed their strong opposition to the apparent use of excessive force by some police personnel against ultra-Orthodox demonstrators which has been witnessed of late.According to a spokesman for Housing and Construction Minister Yaakov Litzman, the prime minister said that the ultra-Orthodox community was “close to his heart” and that he would stop actions that were harming the sector.He added that he was expecting “zero tolerance” towards police violence against protestors and that any police officers who use excessive force be brought to account immediately, although adding that protestors must act responsibly during their demonstrations.Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, who was also present during the meeting, said he had given instructions to the police to act “immediately” against incidents of violence and said that he would not allow “discriminatory enforcement” against the ultra-Orthodox community.Ohana added that a police officer who was filmed striking an ultra-Orthodox protestor in the face on Saturday night has been reassigned and his actions are currently being reviewed.In the meeting, Netanyahu said that he has now ordered the establishment of an operations team for assessing future regional lockdowns for the ultra-Orthodox sector which will include representatives from UTJ and Shas, in order to avoid such steps if possible.He added that businesses in ultra-Orthodox cities which had experienced shutdowns would get compensation for the economic losses they accrued as a result.
“I requested to meet with you to hear you so we can answer your distress. I know that it is true and it goes to our heart,” Netanyahu told the assembled MKs.Despite the agreements reached, several ultra-Orthodox MKs who were in the meeting later continued to criticize Netanyahu.Senior UTJ MK Moshe Gafni said that his actions had “harmed” the ultra-Orthodox sector, noting that “we have supported him for years,” while Deputy Education Minister Meir Porush complained on the Kol Barama radio station that he had “still not received answers” as to why ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods had been shut down.
