From the Liveblog of
Sunday, August 30, 2020
Hasidic Jew warns Netanyahu ‘there will be no rest’ until Uman ban lifted
A Hasidic Jew who protested in Jerusalem last night against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over efforts to bar them from a Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Uman warns the premier “there will be no rest” until their allowed to travel to the Ukrainian city.
“We want to update Prime Minister Netanyahu there are thousands of Hasidim waiting to reach Uman. There will be no rest. Every day there will be noise and he’ll feel us and hear us,” the protester, identified by his first name Eliyahu, tells Army Radio.
Netanyahu said yesterday he was appointing a ministerial team to look into allowing flights to Uman for the Jewish new year, days after Ukraine announced it was closing its borders to all foreign travelers during September.
His announcement came as a group of 200 Hasidic Jews protesting against the ban joined a weekly anti-Netanyahu rally outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem. Some of the premier’s Haredi political allies have also spoken out against the ban.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, says he’s working to find a solution to allow the pilgrimage to Uman.
“But it needs to be understand we’re in a time of epidemic and even the glorious gathering in Uman this year can’t take place in its [normal] format and there needs be a limited format,” he’s quoted saying by the radio station.
