Haredi minister: We won’t allow lockdown over High Holidays

Housing Minister Yaakov Litzman slams the so-called coronavirus cabinet’s decision to impose lockdown measures on localities with high infection rates, many of which have populations that are mostly ultra-Orthodox or Arab.

“The decision to impose a lockdown at this stage is part of an arranged plan of some elements to bring a lockdown during the holidays and close synagogues on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, which we won’t allow in any way” Litzman, who heads the Haredi United Torah Judaism party, says in a statement quoted by Hebrew media.

Gamzu has faced calls to resign from Litzman and other prominent ultra-Orthodox figures for opposing a Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Ukraine and rebuking a top rabbi for reportedly calling on yeshiva students not to be tested for the coronavirus.