Israel has passed a law banning protests during the country’s coronavirus lockdown, with opponents claiming the health crisis has been used to quell protests calling for Benjamin Netanyahu to resign as prime minister.
The controversial law was approved by the country’s parliament, the Knesset, at 30.30 a.m. local time on Wednesday after an overnight session. It allows the government to travel more than 1 km from their homes and ban outdoor gatherings of more than 20 people.
Critics say, effectively, the weekly rallies in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where thousands of people expressed their anger over Netanyahu’s control of the epidemic as well as allegations of corruption, which he denied.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the Knesset on Tuesday to condemn the new law.
“I think we can see that they are not to stop the epidemic or the coronavirus, but to stop and kill the demonstration against Netanyahu, it is a political ban,” said Yaniv Siegel, an actor who has been out of work for several months.
“This is an anti-democratic law. It is only to prevent resistance against a Prime Minister who is corrupt and accused of many crimes. ”
Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party had earlier demanded that the ban be lifted even after the lockdown was lifted, but the legislators rejected the proposal. The new law can only be used during a lockdown.
After the law was passed, the Leader of the Opposition, Yair Lpid, tweeted: “What is the next step? Banning the Leader of the Opposition from addressing Parliament? ”
Israel has the highest per capita daily coronavirus infection in the world, and the military said on Tuesday that the country’s per capita death rate has surpassed that of the US.
While the spring lockdown has managed to reach very low infection rates, officials say the country reopened very quickly and with few restrictions.
“We were not careful. “We weren’t careful about how we emerged from the last lockdown, I don’t think we’re doing enough to reduce the number of infections and epidemics,” Hazi Levy, director general of the health ministry, told public radio.
The three-week lockdown imposed this month has forced the closure of all non-essential businesses and has largely shut down the country.
Opposition leaders have questioned the science behind the new rules, arguing that open-air rallies do not pose a significant risk of infection, especially when compared to indoor religious gatherings, which can be considered hotspots.
Critics of Netanyahu have accused the prime minister, whose government is backed by powerful Jewish ultra-Orthodox politicians, of not doing enough to limit religious gatherings. This month Netanyahu abandoned plans for a local lockdown after pressure from the ultra-orthodox mayor, which will affect largely religious communities.
“I am not saying that I have anything against religious people. I don’t, ”said Liri Burak Shawit, a 44-year-old psychiatrist, during Tuesday’s protest. “But we see that most of the Corons are in religious cities.
“Religious people did not want it to continue. They said, ‘BB, if you do that, we will not vote for you next time,’ he said. “Then, a minute later, it’s the whole country that had to close. People are angry, people are angry. “
In response, many deeply devout Israelis believe they are being unfairly targeted and point to the fact that ultra-racist communities always live in poor, densely populated areas where the infection spreads rapidly.
More than 234,000 infections and 1,516 deaths have been reported in Israel’s population of 9 million. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein on Tuesday ruled that full action had been taken three weeks after the original plan.
“There’s no way we’re going to lift all restrictions in 10 days and say it’s all right,” he told public broadcaster Kan. The beginning of the economy and our lives will be gradual and slow. “
