Israel's ultra-Orthodox reject criticism, defy virus rules

JERUSALEM (AP) — Mendy Moskowits, a member of the ultra-Orthodox Belz Hassidic sect in Jerusalem, doesn’t understand the uproar toward believers like him.

In recent weeks, ultra-Orthodox Jews have defied coronavirus restrictions by holding big funerals for beloved rabbis who died of COVID-19, celebrating large weddings, and continuing to send their children to schools. The gatherings have led to clashes with police and an unprecedented wave of public anger toward the religious community.

Moskowits, like many other ultra-Orthodox faithful, says Israeli society doesn't understand their way of life and has turned his community into a scapegoat.

“The media gives us, in my opinion, a very bad misrepresentation,” he said.

The ultra-Orthodox community makes up about 12% of Israel’s 9.3 million people. But it has wielded outsize influence, using its kingmaker status in parliament to secure benefits and generous government subsidies.

Ultra-Orthodox men are exempt from compulsory military service and often collect welfare payments while continuing to study full time in seminaries throughout adulthood. Their schools enjoy broad autonomy and focus almost entirely on religion while shunning basic subjects like math and science.

These privileges have generated disdain from the general public — resentment that has boiled over into outright hostility during the coronavirus crisis.

Gilad Malach, a researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, says ultra-Orthodox believers accounted for over a third of the country's COVID-19 cases in 2020. Among Israelis over 65, the ultra-Orthodox mortality rate was three times that of the general population, he added.

Health Ministry data show vaccination rates in ultra-Orthodox areas lag far behind the national average.

Ultra-Orthodox...