Ultra-Orthodox MK says closure of Haredi neighborhoods is an ‘injustice’

United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush says the lockdown imposed on virus-stricken ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods is an “injustice.”

“The imposition of a closure on ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods is an injustice. The army doesn’t have the skills to enter a city with a population it does not know — people will refuse to allow them to evacuate them,” he tells Army Radio, referring to the lockdown on Bnei Brak, where the army is slated to evacuate the elderly.

The lawmaker, who is a member of Health Minister Yaakov Litzman’s United Torah Judaism party, says the Israel Defense Forces’ involvement in the distribution of essentials to residents of the locked down city, is unnecessary.

“Do you think that they did not distribute food here before the corona? The ultra-Orthodox are laughing at the idea that soldiers need to distribute food to the elderly in the city.”

The predominantly ultra-Orthodox Bnei Brak is seen as a major epicenter of the virus, with almost as many confirmed cases as Jerusalem (which has the largest tally according to Health Ministry data), despite being one-fifth the size of the capital. Thousands more people in the city are thought to possibly have the disease but remain untested.

Ministers are slated to discuss the possibility of declaring other cities with large outbreaks restricted zones, with an emphasis on locales with large ultra-Orthodox populations.