Israeli minister resigns to protest expected virus lockdown

Israeli minister resigns to protest expected virus lockdown

SeattlePI.com

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JERUSALEM (AP) — A prominent Israeli minister resigned on Sunday in protest over an expected government decision to impose a nationwide lockdown this week ahead of the Jewish New Year due to rising coronavirus cases.

Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman, who served as health minister during the initial outbreak of the virus in Israel, criticized the anticipated lockdown measure as extreme and said it would cause undue suffering to the public.

Litzman, who heads an influential ultra-Orthodox faction in the coalition government, expressed particular ire toward restrictions that will limit observant Jews from attending communal prayers at synagogues during the upcoming holidays.

“The decision to impose a full lockdown over the holidays was planned in advance out of a lack of appreciation to the Jewish holidays,” he said in his resignation letter. “My heart is with the hundreds of thousands of Jews who come to synagogue once a year and won't this year because of the lockdown.”

Israel earned praise earlier this year for its initial handling of the coronavirus domestically, moving quickly to seal the country’s borders and appearing to bring the outbreak under control. It has since been criticized for opening businesses and schools too quickly and allowing the virus to spread once again.

With the country reporting record levels of new coronavirus cases each day, the government is expected to vote Sunday in favor of another nationwide lockdown to curb the outbreak.

Israel has had more than 150,000 confirmed cases of virus and more than 1,100 deaths. Given its population of 9 million, the country now has one of the world’s worst outbreaks.

Litzman himself contracted the virus earlier this year.

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