Defense Minister Visits Bnei Brak with Division 98 Soldiers and Home Front Command • "We Will Not Give A Single Elder" • Government Should Decide Whether to Announce "Restricted Zone" on Elad, Betar Elite, Modi'in Elite, and Neighborhoods in Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem • Deri: "In Some Neighborhoods In Jerusalem, the situation is worse than lightning "

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday: "The IDF will relocate the Bnei Brak model (of the closure) to other ultra-Orthodox cities: Elad, Betar Elite, Modi'in Elite and the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Beit Shemesh. The government is expected to decide soon, perhaps even today, whether to declare a "restricted area" for these cities and ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem, and possibly other cities, including Tiberias and Ashkelon.

Photo: Paz Barr

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that he condemns incitement against the ultra-Orthodox public. Netanyahu: "I strongly condemn the wild incitement against the ultra-Orthodox, they internalized the danger."

During his visit to Bnei Brak today, Bennett said: "I am currently in Bnei Brak together with Division 98 soldiers and the Home Front Command, which during the day distribute approximately 12,000 hot meals in the homes of the elderly and isolated. We will not abandon anyone."

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Chief of Staff, Major General Aviv Kochavi, said on a visit to Bnei Brak: "The phrase 'the army of the people' takes on the importance of IDF soldiers carrying out a mission to save lives, expression of mutual guarantee in the people of Israel. We will continue to increase assistance to local authorities and wherever they may be. A need for expansive and quick. I am proud of their doing, their quick harnessing and their execution. "

Close on more cities?

The government is expected to decide soon, perhaps this evening, whether to declare more cities and neighborhoods as a "restricted area," meaning de facto closure. The Ministry of Health demands to immediately declare a "restricted zone" for some of the eruption centers: ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem, the cities of Modi'in Illit and Betar Illit, and the settlement of Elad.

These are areas that are defined as dense population areas, where many families from the ultra-Orthodox and religious Zionist families live. The Ministry of Health is also demanding to begin the closure of other cities with a large increase in the number of people infected, including: Tiberias, Ashkelon and Migdal Haemek.

Checkpoints in Jerusalem

In recent hours, the Jerusalem Police has placed roadblocks at the entrance to the city, to check vehicles arriving in the city under the "Public Health Order", and traffic loads are registered at the entrances to the city. Police said: "For the enforcement of public health regulations and Passover preparations, checkpoints have been posted at Jerusalem's entrances to ensure the safety, security and health of the public and have advocated alongside enforcement. Due to the checkpoints, there are traffic jams at Jerusalem's entrances."

As for Jerusalem, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri warned earlier today that "in some neighborhoods in Jerusalem the situation is worse than Barak's lightning." The Ministry of Health requires closure of almost all ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in the city: Har Nof, Beit Vagan, Givat Mordechai, Ramot, Ramat Shlomo, Sanhedria, Samuel the Prophet, Beit Yisrael, the Bukharim, Mea She'arim, Geula, Zichron Moshe, Mekor Baruch, Givat Shaul and Kiryat Moshe. These are neighborhoods with many access roads in the city, and large forces will be needed to close them. This means, in fact, almost complete closure of the capital.