A visit to the city on the second day of the night curfew in the red cities shows that the residents do not obey the instructions • The businesses remain open and there is no noticeable enforcement in the area • The police respond: "Enforcement is done as needed"
Even after curfew, traffic continues
Photo:
Deer Bloom
The second day of the night closure in Bnei Brak - and a city as usual.
Dozens of people are walking the main streets, and only a small police presence is observed in the city, which does not seem to enforce the 500-meter limit.
Photo: Zivia Blum
The time now is 19:02.
At the Coca-Cola junction, the main entrance and exit from Givat Shmuel and Road 4 to Bnei Brak, there are no police officers or a checkpoint, not even on the horizon.
An hour and a half later, a policeman will stand at the exit of the city in the direction of Givat Shmuel, leaning against a half-barrier on the road, immersed in his cell phone.
He will not stop my vehicle or other vehicles, which will leave the city without interruption.
At a quarter past seven some of the shops are still open, and shoppers come in and out of them.
Toy store, shoe store.
Not ones that can be defined as vitality.
Itzik from the "Candy House", a kiosk located in the heart of Rabbi Akiva, the main street of Bnei Brak, insists that at exactly seven o'clock all the shops close.
“My kiosk is allowed to stay open until 11, but all non-essential stores close at seven zero-zero,” he says.
Towards the exit from Bnei Brak, in the Jabotinsky corner of the Moore Institute, a terrible traffic jam was created.
Here, one of the largest exits from Bnei Brak, it seems that all the possible police forces have arrived, and checkpoints have been set up in both directions.
A female soldier stops my vehicle and asks where I am from.
When I answer "Givat Shmuel" she says "OK, okay", and lets me pass, without asking for an ID card.
As of eight in the evening, buses leave and enter the city unhindered.
"This closure is evil," Itzik is furious. "It's not fair what they do. It makes no sense to close businesses at seven in the evening. What, the disease comes from businesses? A man walks into a store, buys and walks. "I let people drink in the store if they didn't have a mask. Do you know what people are telling me here? Maybe it's better to have a full closure, and that's how we'll get money from the state."
Another round with the vehicle.
In the garage area of Bnei Brak, there is a policeman standing in the square and stopping vehicles that turn right.
At the Hashomer-Jabotinsky junction, another major exit from Bnei Brak, there is no checkpoint or police, and vehicles leave the city as usual.
Police sources say: "There are checkpoints at all exits in the city. Hundreds of policemen and soldiers are deployed throughout the city and enforcement is being carried out as needed. "To make sure they keep 500 meters away from the house, just like in the previous closure."