1,000 police enforcing a lockdown on Bnei Brak

With troops from the Paratrooper Brigade deployed to the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak on Sunday, the IDF is gearing up for the possibility it will be sent to additional parts of the country to help the population affected by the coronavirus crisis.

More than 1,000 police began enforcing a lockdown on Bnei Brak on Friday, setting up roadblocks at dozens of entrances and exits to the city of 200,000 in an attempt to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

Speaking to reporters, the head of the IDF Home Front Command, Maj.-Gen. Tamir Yadai, said the military anticipated being sent to additional parts of the country that are struggling with the pandemic, including the ultra-Orthodox community of Elad and various neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

“Bnei Brak is the first place, not the last,” he said. 

The cabinet on Thursday declared the city a “restricted zone,” banning residents from leaving except under special circumstances. According to reports, police are using drones and other monitoring methods to enforce the lockdown.

Under the new restrictions, armed troops from the IDF’s Paratrooper Brigade were deployed to Bnei Brak to work under the Home Front Command. The massive effort is being coordinated by the head of the city’s coronavirus task force, Maj.-Gen.(ret.) Roni Numa, Magen David Adom rescue services, Israel Police, the Health Ministry and other governmental ministries.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi spoke with Interior Minister Aryeh Deri about the IDF taking responsibility for Bnei Brak and the deployment of troops who will be providing assistance to the city’s residents.

“We will do everything it takes to support the civilian effort in general, and Bnei Brak in particular, during this challenging crisis,” he said.

Though the military will deploy two battalions – one from the Paratroopers Brigade and one from the Commando Brigade, as well as other troops providing logistical support – Yadai told reporters that the Chief of Staff has given him the green light to deploy as many troops as necessary.

“The chief of staff’s order was: Anything I need, I get. If I need another two battalions, I’ll get them,” Yadai said. But, “as far as enforcement of the closure is concerned, that is the responsibility of the Israeli police.”

The troops who will have personal protective equipment like the police, will be assigned to the Home Front Command and have three missions: increasing the number of coronavirus tests in the city, evacuating the sick and elderly, and increasing the public awareness about the virus through the city’s call center.

According to Yadai, no one will be evacuated by force and while the city’s residents have been barred from leaving the city, “there’s not a lockdown in the city of Bnei Brak. The supermarkets are open and everyone can go out and get food.”

The military has already started providing food and other necessities to the eldery and disabled, but there are no plans for large-scale provision of food for residents of the city.

With such a high rate of infection, some 4,500 elderly residents of the city aged 80 years and over will be evacuated from the city and placed in self-isolation in quarantine facilities operated by the Home Front Command at a cost of NIS 75 million.

Police say they handed out NIS 5,000 fines to 11 Israelis who violated the Health Ministry guidelines and arrested 10 people on Saturday after they attempted to disperse those who had gathered to hold prayers in synagogues and open spaces early in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem.