Half of Israelis put in hospital are Haredi: cities may be quarantined

Published: 31 March 2020

Last updated: 4 March 2024

Public Security Minister calls mass ultra-Orthodox funeral in Bnei Brak 'life-threatening’; community with just 10% of national population accused of driving infections

Mass ultra-Orthodox funeral held in Israel despite coronavirus pandemic (Haaretz)
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan calls event in Bnei Brak 'life-threatening'; COVID-19 is quickly spreading in ultra-Orthodox communities, but police fear enforcement would lead to clashes

Failure to stop mass Haredi funeral reveals distancing’s fatal flaw: Enforcement (Times of Israel)
Police say they decided to allow hundreds of ultra-Orthodox to attend burial for important rabbi to avoid clashing with participants, tout victory that ‘only 400 people’ took part

Around half of Israelis hospitalised with coronavirus are ultra-Orthodox – TV (Times of Israel)
Members of community that makes up just 10% of national population accused of driving infections through failure to adhere to social distancing restrictions

Gov't considering quarantining Haredi cities over high coronavirus rates (Jerusalem Post)
Leader of the ultra-Orthodox world Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky finally instructs community not to pray together in prayer quorums.

Inside Israel's ultra-Orthodox coronavirus hot spots – where even the mayor is sick (Haaretz)
In Bnei Brak, the Hebrew sign says the synagogue is closed – but in Yiddish, worshippers are invited to ‘come in to learn and pray’

Photo: The funeral at Bnei Brak, March 28 (Yediot Me'hashetach on Telegram)