Deri: 'The light hand must stop' • Yaakov Margi: 'Instead of a fine, we gave a punch''

July 13, 2020   

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri held a meeting this morning (Monday) with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, and with the participation of members of the Shas faction. During the meeting, Shas MKs spoke out against the conduct of the lockdown, which is being implemented without the name of a policy designed to reduce morbidity. The Interior Minister said: "The lockdown as it is, without any surrounding aid package, does not achieve its goal and harms the entire public. Before imposing a lockdown, the state should prepare for an aid package that includes food assistance, protection for the elderly, while emphasizing the immediate evacuation of the sick." Deri emphasized: "If it is not possible to evacuate the sick, there is no sense in imposing a lockdown." Shas MKs painfully noted the police violence against the Haredi sector and the "light hand compared to the general population." The chairman of the Shas faction in the Knesset, MK Michael Malchieli, was furious about the selective enforcement and gave an example: "While in Betar a woman receives a fine of 2,000 NIS, in Tel Aviv they are handing out masks. Our public feels persecuted." The chairman of the Economics Committee, Yaakov Margi, summed up the general feeling among the Haredi public: "Instead of a fine, the police are punching." Deputy Minister of Social Affairs Meshulam Nahari said painfully: "The Haredi public has become a punching bag. The police are using violence, and what's worse is that this is being blamed on thugs from the public who attack Haredi. 'If a flame fell on the cedars, what would the wall mosses say'?" The Prime Minister must intervene and put an end to the harassment." MK Moshe Aboutbol: "We are receiving hundreds of inquiries, including from the closure in Beit Shemesh, which includes harsh treatment from some police officers. It is difficult to convince the public when criteria for the closure and clarifications are not published." Minister Deri concluded the discussion: "It is not possible for the Haredi sector to feel discriminated against - the Haredi public is disciplined, the light hand against us must stop. Discrimination against the Haredi public is being enforced, I call on the Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Security to work for equal enforcement." The Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Security concluded: "A retired police chief, Arik Yakuel, will be appointed to head the team advising the minister regarding the Haredi sector. The faction's MKs' claims are justified and the government will act to correct this as soon as possible.".