As virus rages, Israel targets flights, religious scofflaws
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that Israel will be closing its international airport to nearly all flights, while Israeli police clashed with ultra-Orthodox protesters in several cities and the government raced to bring a raging coronavirus outbreak under control.
The entry of highly contagious variants of the virus, coupled with poor enforcement of safety rules in ultra-Orthodox communities, has contributed to one of the world’s highest rates of infections. It also has threatened to undercut Israel’s successful campaign to vaccinate its population against the virus.
In just a month, Israel has vaccinated more than a quarter of its 9.2 million people. At the same time, the virus continues to race through the country, with authorities confirming an average of over 8,000 new cases a day.
Late Sunday, the Israeli Cabinet approved a tight closure on nearly all incoming and outgoing air traffic. The government said it would make exceptions for a small number of humanitarian cases and cargo flights.
“We are closing the skies hermetically, except for really rare exceptions, to prevent the entry of virus mutations, and also to ensure that we progress quickly with our vaccination campaign,” Netanyahu said.
The order is to begin Tuesday and remain in effect until Sunday. Netanyahu’s office said the order still required parliamentary legislation to be finalized.
Throughout the pandemic, Israel has restricted entry for most foreigners at its main international airport. But it has made exceptions for certain categories of people, including religious students and Israelis returning from abroad, while allowing Israeli tourists to fly to a handful of “green countries” believed to have low rates of the coronavirus.
Experts also say a lack of compliance with safety regulations in Israel’s ultra-Orthodox sector also has been a factor in the spread of the virus.
Israeli police have been largely reluctant to confront the ultra-Orthodox community. On Sunday, police clashed with crowds of ultra-Orthodox protesters in several cities, with an officer firing into the air in one city to keep a crowd at bay.
Throughout the pandemic, many major ultra-Orthodox sects have flouted safety regulations, continuing to open schools, pray in synagogues and hold mass weddings and funerals despite broader lockdown orders. This has contributed to a disproportionate infection rate: The ultra-Orthodox community accounts for over one-third of Israel’s coronavirus cases, despite making up just over 10% of the population.
Israel has recorded nearly 600,000 cases of the virus since the start of the pandemic and almost 4,400 deaths.
The worst unrest Sunday occurred in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, where large crowds of young men clashed with police and threatened journalists. At one point, a police officer fired his pistol into the air to get a crowd to back off.