Closure criteria will be announced in advance • Deri: Stop police violence immediately!

July 12, 2020   

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said today (Sunday) at a government meeting that he is now demanding that all criteria for the decision to impose a lockdown on any neighborhood or town be published, in order to prevent a feeling of being in a state of chaos, especially among the ultra-Orthodox public. How can you become a programmer, paramedic, or multimedia producer without investing a single penny? Netanyahu accepted Minister Deri's proposal and ordered that the criteria for imposing a lockdown in each locality be published on the Prime Minister's website from now on. In addition, Minister Deri reiterated his request from last Thursday to compensate all businesses that were affected by the lockdown in their locality. Finance Minister Israel Katz said that he was working on compensation for those business owners. Minister Deri later expressed his anger at what he called "selective enforcement against the Haredi public" - and said: "We saw two demonstrations yesterday evening. One demonstration in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv with the participation of ten thousand people and a demonstration in the Romema neighborhood in Jerusalem with the participation of dozens of Haredi. "During the demonstration in Tel Aviv, social distancing was not always maintained, the instructions were not strictly followed, and we saw no violence against the protesters. In the Romema neighborhood, we saw a video in which a Haredi asks a policeman why he is not wearing a mask. In response, the policeman punched the Haredi in the face and prevented him from providing assistance. "There is deliberate violence by police against Haredi protesters. It must stop. On Friday, the heads of the Haredi parties sat with the Minister of Public Security, Amir Ohana. Minister Ohana was attentive, but the violence continues. As a representative of a Haredi party in the government, I cannot accept the severe violence by the police against the Haredi. It must stop immediately.".