Police say they allowed mass funeral to avoid clashing with participants

The Israel Police says it decided to not enforce the government’s regulations against gatherings during last night’s mass procession and funeral for an important rabbi in the city of Bnei Brak in order to avoid clashing with the participants.

“We had two options: Cause a clash with the participants, thousands of whom came out of their houses in the span of a few minutes, or  wait until the funeral ended quickly and the crowd broke up,” police say in a statement.

“These are the types of events that require the careful consideration of commanders and risk management, and it is good that the event ended in this way,” police say.

The police say they saw it as a victory that “only 400 people came to the funeral of an important rabbi,” instead of tens of thousands.

Police also falsely claim that the participants kept a distance from one another, something that is clearly disproved by videos from the event that showed a dense crowd.

“This shows that the people who came to the funeral were aware of the danger,” police say.

Amid strong backlash — both from the public and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan — police say they will “study the event and learn lessons from it.”