Moshe Gafni to Netanyahu: This lockdown is very serious! It causes damage and creates a 'stigma' here

After Eichler, Litzman and Tessler - the chairman of 'Degel' also joins the fight against the closure: Finance Committee Chairman, MK Moshe Gafni, met this evening (Wednesday) with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

During the meeting, Gafni brought up the closure process that was carried out in the Haredi neighborhoods in Tiberias and the city of Elad. "It is easiest to close the Haredi, I wish there were guards all over the country like in the Haredi neighborhoods, this reality causes damage and creates a 'stigma' on a public that can always be identified externally," Gafni said.

He added: "This is not right! And I ask you, Mr. Prime Minister, not to give in to this, this lockdown is very serious!"

Earlier today, MK Israel Eichler said in the plenum: "In which country in the world do they impose closures based on populations?! I call on the Prime Minister to lift the closure immediately. They say there is no money for hotels. But there is money for hospitals, where those who have not been isolated go. A closure does not cure coronavirus. Only taking carriers out for isolation in hotels."

Minister Yaakov Litzman said in a statement he issued: "It is appropriate and even obligatory that such a decision be made not based on the nature of the population, but on professional parameters. On the face of it, the decision to close down the Haredi neighborhood in Tiberias and Elad only is sectoral and incorrect."

MK Yaakov Tesler said in the Knesset plenary: "I wonder if the finger isn't too light on the trigger? Have they exhausted all the solutions? Have we discussed with the authorities what other solutions are there besides imposing a lockdown?"

He added: “According to the authorities, no one discussed with them at all before imposing the lockdown, nor the educational, economic, and psychological implications. Tens of thousands of people find themselves in broad daylight under lockdown, while they see that in other cities, where the incidence is also rising and the Ministry of Health guidelines are not being followed at all – there is no excuse here, and who is even talking about a lockdown! I have not heard that anyone is thinking of imposing a lockdown on the city of Tel Aviv. ‘Tel Aviv and the rest of the country’s cities are subject to the same rules as Elad and Tiberias!’”