JERUSALEM (AP) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would close its international airport for near-flights as the government sought to bring a raging coronavirus outbreak under control.
The entry into highly contagious variants of the coronavirus, coupled with the poor application of safety rules in ultra-Orthodox communities, has contributed to one of the highest infection rates in the world. It also threatened to suppress Israel’s extremely successful campaign to vaccinate its population against the virus.
Late Sunday, the Israeli cabinet approved what Netanyahu said would be a strict closure for incoming and outgoing air traffic. The government said it would make exceptions for a small number of humanitarian cases, such as funerals and medical patients, and cargo flights.
“We are hermetically shutting down the air, except for exceptional exceptions, to prevent virus mutations and also to progress rapidly with our vaccination campaign,” Netanyahu said.
The order is due to begin early Tuesday and remain in effect until January 31. Netanyahu’s office said the order still required the finalization of parliamentary legislation.
During the pandemic, Israel restricted access to its main international airport. But it has made exceptions for certain categories of people, including religious students and Israelis returning from abroad, while allowing Israeli tourists to fly to a handful of ‘green countries’. These restricted flights appear to be highly contagious coronavirus variants entering the country from the United Kingdom and elsewhere.
The Ministry of Health of Israel has recorded more than 595,000 cases of the virus and more than 4,361 deaths since the start of the pandemic. New cases of the disease are still on the rise, even though the country has launched one of the world’s most successful vaccination campaigns and is in the midst of its third nationwide exclusion.
Israeli authorities have struggled to enforce compliance in ultra-Orthodox communities. On Sunday, religious protesters clashed with police in several cities.
During the pandemic, many large ultra-Orthodox sects violated safety regulations, continued to open schools, pray in synagogues, and hold mass weddings at funerals. It has contributed to an excessive infection rate, while the ultra-Orthodox community accounts for more than one-third of coronavirus cases in Israel, although it accounts for just over 10% of the population.
In Jerusalem, police fired tear gas and bubbling water to disperse a crowd of hundreds of ultra-Orthodox residents outside a reopened school. Protesters cried “get out of here, Nazis” to officers who were picked up and arrested participants.
In the coastal city of Ashdod, police struggled with dozens of protesters outside an ultra-Orthodox school. In the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, large crowds of protesters chased away journalists. A policeman shot into the air as he was surrounded by a crowd of protesters.
Five police officers were injured in the disputes and at least four people were arrested, police said.
While the country is experiencing a furious outbreak of coronavirus, the Israeli government last week extended the country’s third nationwide exclusion until the end of January.
Sunday’s clashes were the latest incident of heightened tensions over enforcing lock-in rules in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Israel. On Friday, ultra-Orthodox Israelis attacked a police vehicle in the city of Bnei Brak, outside Tel Aviv. A crowd pelted the police car with stones and set its tires on fire.