{"id":50121,"date":"2021-01-28T09:37:44","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T13:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=50121"},"modified":"2021-01-28T09:37:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T13:37:44","slug":"israelis-violently-defy-covid-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=50121","title":{"rendered":"Israelis Violently Defy Covid Lockdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel: clashes and arrests as ultra-Orthodox defy lockdown<\/h1>\n

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The four people arrested were allegedly involved in ‘serious disturbances’ in Bnei Brak<\/h3>\n

Rosie Scammell
\nThe National News<\/p>\n

Four Israelis from an ultra-Orthodox town have been arrested over allegedly setting a bus ablaze, police said Monday, after officers clashed with residents while trying to enforce coronavirus regulations.<\/p>\n

The unrest came amid mounting criticism of authorities for failing to impose the rules in religious areas such as Bnei Brak, close to Tel Aviv, some four weeks into Israel\u2019s third nationwide lockdown.<\/p>\n

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Israeli police officers march by past piles of burning rubbish during clashes with ultra-Orthodox Jews in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, on January 24, 2021. AP Photo<\/p><\/div>\n

The four people arrested were allegedly involved in \u201cserious disturbances\u201d in Bnei Brak on Sunday, police said, in which a bus was torched in a residential area and the local mayor\u2019s car was attacked.<\/p>\n

Earlier on the same day police officers \u201cfeared for their lives\u201d when they were surrounded by residents throwing stones at them, prompting one officer to fire in the air, according to a police statement.<\/p>\n

The unrest followed reports that some ultra-Orthodox schools had reopened in Bnei Brak, in defiance of the lockdown rules.<\/p>\n

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Emergency medical technician Thomas Hoang, left, of Emergency Ambulance Service, and paramedic Trenton Amaro prepare to unload a Covid-19 patient from an ambulance in Placentia, California. AP Photo<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Defence Minister Benny Gantz said he had asked the attorney general for legal advice on pursuing local leaders who instruct people to break the rules, while pressing the education ministry to cut funding to such educational institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are losing lives because of a politically motivated lack of enforcement,\u201d he said during a cabinet meeting on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Coronavirus has killed more than 4,400 people in Israel, out of a population of nine million.<\/p>\n

About 21 per cent of coronavirus tests in Bnei Brak are positive, according to health ministry data, more than double the national average of 9.3 per cent.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned a \u201cscandalous wedding\u201d in the town, which went ahead despite the lockdown. The premier said the event amounted to \u201cbloodshed\u201d and called on police to treat rule-breakers \u201cwith an iron fist\u201d.<\/p>\n

But Mr Netanyahu\u2019s critics argue such statements have not been followed by action, claiming the premier does not want to lose the support of his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners in the March election.<\/p>\n

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Despite coming under attack in Bnei Brak, Mayor Abraham Rubinstein said the police were to blame \u201cfor the catastrophe taking place in our city\u201d. Quoted by\u00a0The Times of Israel<\/em>, he accused officers of \u201cprovocative activity\u201d.<\/p>\n

President Reuven Rivlin has meanwhile urged officers to enforce government measures while treating the public with patience and compassion.<\/p>\n

\u201cDecisive action is required on one hand, and tolerance and patience on the other,\u201d he said in a meeting on Sunday with the country\u2019s police commissioner. \u201cThese are not easy times; public spirit is high and the police are in the middle.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nhttps:\/\/www.thenationalnews.com\/mena\/israel-clashes-and-arrests-as-ultra-orthodox-defy-lockdown-1.1153329<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israel: clashes and arrests as ultra-Orthodox defy lockdown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50121\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}