Netanyahu said to favor curfew on Independence Day, Ramadan nights

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly leaning toward approving a nationwide curfew on next week’s Independence Day, and a curfew in Arab cities and villages every night during the month of Ramadan.

Netanyahu was due later Tuesday to announce his decision regarding restrictions on movement to be imposed during Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and terror victims, Independence Day and Ramadan.

The National Security Council has sent cabinet ministers a message saying that Netanyahu wants to approve a full-blown curfew on April 28-29, when Israelis normally gather en masse to celebrate the country’s anniversary, Channel 12 reported, without citing a source.

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The council, along with the Health Ministry, has reportedly advised Netanyahu to announce a curfew from the end of Memorial Day until the end of Independence Day, 24 hours later. Independence Day follows immediately after Memorial Day, beginning in the evening, as is the tradition for days marked on the Jewish calendar.

The aim is prevent the social gatherings and parties — notably large barbecues — that are a fixture of Independence Day. The Health Ministry is worried that, as some lockdown restrictions were lifted on Sunday, the public may become too lax in sticking to the remaining limits on social gatherings, which authorities are already struggling to enforce.

President Reuven Rivlin hosts Muslim leaders and foreign diplomats for an iftar meal to end the day of Ramadan fasting at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on June 12, 2017. (Mark Neiman/GPO)

The premier was also said to be planning to impose a curfew in Arab communities from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. every day during the holy Muslim month, which begins on Thursday.

Worshipers fast during the day in Ramadan and normally hold large family meals at night as well as communal prayers, but those traditions will have to be altered this year in light of social distancing guidelines.

Many Muslim clerics and leaders worldwide have issued updated guidelines for Ramadan in light of the pandemic, trying to balance tradition with caution.

Israelis were twice placed under curfew recently — at the start and the close of the week-long Passover holiday that ended last week. All intercity movement was prohibited and citizens were ordered to not venture out of their homes for over 24 hours during those days.

Regarding Memorial Day, the day before Independence Day, Netanyahu is leaning toward not approving a curfew, Channel 12 said, despite the Health Ministry’s recommendation, due to pressure from organizations representing bereaved families.

Bereaved family members stand in front of their loved one’s grave at Ashkelon’s military cemetery on Memorial Day, May 8, 2019. (Jacob Magid/Times of Israel)

Netanyahu said Saturday that the traditional commemoration events will take place without crowds in light of the coronavirus pandemic, fearing a renewed outbreak if annual ceremonies are held as normal.

On Sunday, the head of an organization representing relatives of fallen soldiers and terror victims cautioned that bereaved families will not accept the shuttering of military cemeteries during Memorial Day.

Eli Ben Shem, chairman of Yad Labanim, wrote to Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi and other senior officials saying that “following the directive by Defense Minister Naftali Bennett canceling the ceremonies and the order not to come to the military cemeteries on Memorial Day, we are receiving hundreds of messages from families who are not accepting it and are threatening to force their way in.”

Channel 12 said that the likely solution to be implemented was to allow victims’ close relatives to visit their loved ones’ graves in military cemeteries, in shifts starting Tuesday until the April 28 Memorial Day. The meetings would be coordinated with police and the IDF to prevent large gatherings.

That would hopefully letting families pay visits to the graves of their fallen relatives while preventing large gatherings on Memorial Day itself.

The plan was reportedly to be discussed at a meeting starting at 2:30 p.m. with Netanyahu, Defense Ministry officials, IDF officers and Ben Shem.

Also Tuesday, the cabinet extended emergency regulations that allow Israel to quarantine all arrivals in the country at specially outfitted hotels, to stem the outbreak of the virus. The rules were extended until May 6.

Limitations on how far Israelis could venture from their homes and which businesses could reopen were eased Sunday, after weeks of restrictions that saw Israelis only permitted outside for essential needs or work.