Moreover, a fine of NIS 500 will be imposed forgoing beyond a set distance during a lockdown, and a fine of NIS 1000 will be given for refusing a police order within such an area.
The legislation clarifies, "the usage of reasonable force" used under the name of dispersing an event or gathering done in the violation of these regulations.
"There are natural and basic disagreements, I ask everyone to step away from their position in order to build an infrastructure, to give the government tools to handle the extreme coronavirus situation," said Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kish.
During the hearings on Sunday, MK Eli Avidar (Yisrael Beytenu) opposed the measures, saying they would be used by Netanyahu and his allies to shut down public protests of the government’s handling of the coronavirus epidemic.He denounced Deputy Attorney-General Raz Nizri, saying that “dictatorships are created when government officials give in,” and asked him if he thought people in North Korea would rather get COVID-19 or have the right to protest.During the debate, Likud MK Gideon Sa’ar expressed reservations about the law.Earlier on Sunday, coalition chairman Miki Zohar (Likud) said if businesses were shut down due to the pandemic, protests should be stopped.“The government must decide whether to open the economy, to allow these organized protests full of hatred to continue or not – much like it did with the businesses,” he said.The Blue and White Party has backed the legislation, but it has said it is seeking amendments to the bill to protect the right to protest, the oversight prerogatives of the Knesset and to ensure the courts remain open.Separately, the immediate threat of dismissal of Likud MK Yifat Shasha-Biton from her chairmanship of the Knesset coronavirus committee was lifted somewhat, as the Likud failed to put in place proceedings to fire her.After Shasha-Biton again warned Saturday night that she and her committee would not rubber-stamp government decisions regarding new COVID-19 restrictions, a spokesman for Netanyahu put out a statement citing a “senior source in the Likud” saying that “the prime minister will fire Yifat Shasha-Biton from her position” due to her actions.To carry this out, the Knesset House Committee, chaired by Blue and White MK Eitan Ginzburg, needs to be convened. No such request had been made, Ginzburg’s spokesman said Sunday.After the threat to fire Shasha-Biton, Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz said Saturday night he was “working to prevent the dismissal of Shasha-Biton, and I hope we avoid this step.” Although he believed the coronavirus committee should accept the decisions of the government on COVID-19, the government was “obligated to respect its [the committee’s] role in the Knesset,” he said.Blue and White had expressed opposition to firing Shasha-Biton due to the negative impact on the Knesset’s oversight prerogatives over the government, a party source said Sunday.Since the committee had been allocated to the Likud, it was the Likud’s right to determine who heads it, the same source said, adding that Blue and White would likely not oppose the Likud if it followed through with its threat to fire her.Zohar said a decision has yet to be made.Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this article.