Independence Day curfew mooted for fear of fresh virus outbreak

The government will consider putting the country under curfew for the whole of Independence Day next week to prevent the public from holding large social gatherings as it celebrates the founding of the state.

The Health Ministry and the National Security Council are expected to advise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take the measure at a meeting to discuss it Monday evening, multiple Hebrew media reports said.

The curfew will run from the end of Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and terror victims on Tuesday evening until Wednesday night. Israel’s Independence Day follows immediately after Memorial Day, beginning in the evening, as is the tradition for events in the Jewish calendar. Public ceremonies to mark Memorial Day have also been canceled or limited to the participation of just a handful of officials and without the families of the fallen.

Israelis were twice placed under curfew recently — at the start and close of the week-long Passover holiday that ended last week. All inter-city movement was prohibited and citizens were ordered to not venture out of their homes for over 24 hours during each of the days at the beginning and end of the holiday.

The reports said that the proposed curfew for Independence Day would be similar to that of Passover, although it was not clear if all of the same restrictions would be applied.

The aim is prevent the large social gatherings and parties — notably outdoor barbecues — that are a fixture of Independence Day. The Health Ministry is worried that, as some lockdown restrictions were lifted on Sunday, the public may become too lax in sticking to the remaining limits on social gatherings, which authorities are already struggling to enforce.

On Sunday, the head of an organization representing relatives of fallen soldiers and terror victims cautioned that bereaved families will not accept the shuttering of military cemeteries during Memorial Day.

Eli Ben Shem, chairman of Yad Labanim, wrote to Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi and other senior officials saying that “following the directive by Defense Minister Naftali Bennett canceling the ceremonies and the order not to come to the military cemeteries on Memorial Day, we are receiving hundreds of messages from families who are not accepting it and are threatening to force their way in.”

Netanyahu said Saturday that the traditional commemoration events will take place on April 27-28, without crowds in light of the coronavirus pandemic, fearing a renewed outbreak if annual ceremonies are held as normal.

Limitations on how far Israelis could venture from their homes and which businesses could reopen were eased Sunday, after weeks of restrictions that saw Israelis only permitted outside for essential needs or to attended critical work.