Israel targets flights, spiritual scofflaws, as virus rages

JERUSALEM (AP) — Key Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel will be closing its global airport to nearly all flights, when Israeli police clashed with ultra-Orthodox protesters in many major towns and the government raced to deliver a raging coronavirus outbreak below manage.

The entry of highly contagious variants of the virus, coupled with very poor enforcement of protection policies in extremely-Orthodox communities, has contributed to a single of the world’s best rates of bacterial infections. It also has threatened to undercut Israel’s very successful marketing campaign to vaccinate its population towards the virus.

In just a thirty day period, Israel has vaccinated around a quarter of its 9.2 million persons. At the exact same time, the virus proceeds to race through the place, with authorities confirming an common of in excess of 8,000 new cases a working day.

Late Sunday, the Israeli Cupboard authorized a tight closure on just about all incoming and outgoing air targeted traffic. The governing administration explained it would make exceptions for a compact amount of humanitarian cases – this sort of as funerals and clinical people – and cargo flights.

“We are closing the skies hermetically, except for actually exceptional exceptions, to avert the entry of virus mutations, and also to make certain that we development swiftly with our vaccination campaign,” Netanyahu claimed.

The buy is to begin early Tuesday and continue to be in result right until Jan. 31. Netanyahu’s office environment explained the buy still needed parliamentary legislation to be finalized.

During the pandemic, Israel has restricted entry for most foreigners at its primary intercontinental airport. But it has produced exceptions for particular types of individuals, which includes religious college students and Israelis returning from overseas, although allowing Israeli tourists to fly to a handful of “green countries” believed to have very low fees of the coronavirus.

This restricted air vacation appears to have permitted highly contagious coronavirus variants from the U.K. and other spots to enter Israel. The Wellbeing Ministry reported Sunday that it experienced detected the initial case of a new coronavirus variant discovered in the U.S., introduced in by a male who arrived from Los Angeles.

Professionals say that a deficiency of compliance with security polices in Israel’s ultra-Orthodox sector also has been a important aspect in the unfold of the virus.

Israeli law enforcement have been largely unwilling to confront the extremely-Orthodox local community. On Sunday, police clashed with big crowds of ultra-Orthodox protesters in several towns, with an officer firing into the air in one metropolis to maintain a significant group at bay.

In the course of the pandemic, several main ultra-Orthodox sects have flouted protection rules, continuing to open educational institutions, pray in synagogues and keep mass weddings and funerals even with broader lockdown orders. This has contributed to a disproportionate infection charge: The ultra-Orthodox group accounts for in excess of one-third of Israel’s coronavirus instances, in spite of building up just more than 10% of the inhabitants.

Israel has recorded in excess of 595,000 situations of the virus due to the fact the start off of the pandemic and in excess of 4,361 deaths. New situations continue on to climb, even as the country has introduced a single of the world’s most successful vaccination campaigns and is in the midst of its third nationwide lockdown.

The worst unrest on Sunday occurred in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, the place huge crowds of youthful adult males clashed with police and threatened journalists. At a single point, a police officer drew his pistol and fired into the air to get a crowd to back off.

In Jerusalem, law enforcement fired tear gasoline and putrid-smelling water to disperse hundreds of extremely-Orthodox people exterior a reopened faculty. Demonstrators named the police “Nazis.”

In the coastal metropolis of Ashdod, law enforcement scuffled with dozens of protesters exterior an ultra-Orthodox university.

Five police officers were being wounded in the disputes, and at minimum 4 people have been arrested, law enforcement reported.

“I assume all citizens of Israel to regard the protection rules. That incorporates all the sectors, together with the ultra-Orthodox,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu, who is relying on ultra-Orthodox help in upcoming national elections, said that most of the group has respected safety suggestions. He attributed the most up-to-date troubles to a modest minority performing in an “unacceptable” manner.

Sunday’s clashes ended up the most up-to-date incident of heightened tensions in excess of enforcement of lockdown policies in extremely-Orthodox neighborhoods in Israel. On Friday, ultra-Orthodox Israelis attacked a law enforcement automobile in the city of Bnei Brak, exterior Tel Aviv.