Health Ministry Yuli Edelstein warns of “heavy fines” for schools open in violation of lockdown measures meant to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Preschools and daycares were allowed to reopen today after a weeks-long closure, but all other educational institutions must remain shuttered. Despite this, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox schools opened this morning in open defiance of government restrictions, including in “red” areas with the highest infection rates.
“There is no authorization [to reopen]. No one gave authorization,” Edelstein says during a press conference at Ariel University in the West Bank. “Whoever does this is expected [to receive] heavy fines, maybe even the revocation of [their] license and the revocation of funding for the institution.”
He adds: “We need to remember a simple rule. Whoever does something that’s not all right, he’s endangering himself, but he doesn’t need to be an example to others.”
Edelstein says he reached out to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit about possibly withholding funds for schools that violate the restrictions.
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