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Coronavirus tests alliance between Netanyahu and ultra-Orthodox

Ultra-Orthodox politicians feel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using them as scapegoats over coronavirus failures.
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man reacts after police fined him for defying government restrictions set in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem April 6, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC2YYF9YPX0X

At the beginning of the week, when news reports and social media were devoted 24/7 to the rising number of coronavirus cases in Israel’s ultra-Orthodox communities, especially in the country’s largest ultra-Orthodox town of Bnei Brak, the ultra-Orthodox leadership began signaling its anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The leaders were annoyed and suspicious of his silence over what they interpreted as collective incitement against their communities for allegedly spreading the disease. With Bnei Brak placed under virtual lockdown, control of the town handed over to the army and journalists reporting from its streets as though from a war zone, ultra-Orthodox leaders felt their people were being blamed for Netanyahu’s flawed handling of the crisis. Rather than focusing on the shortage of test kits, protective equipment and respirators, the public had turned the ultra-Orthodox into a punching bag and a target of unrestrained venom.

Ultra-Orthodox journalists active on social media pointed the finger of blame at Netanyahu, arguing that he was cleverly allowing secular Israelis to lash out at them in order to divert attention from his own shortcomings. “The government is preparing to drop the blame for the chaotic management of the [coronavirus] crisis onto the heads of the ultra-Orthodox public. Netanyahu has rushed to impose a full closure only on the ultra-Orthodox towns, without equitable treatment of all citizens, and to turn the ultra-Orthodox into scapegoats in the media. Netanyahu, don’t even try, it won’t wash,” Yossi Elituv, the editor of the ultra-Orthodox newspaper Hamishpaha, tweeted on April 5. Elituv is also a political commentator and is considered a senior figure within ultra-Orthodox and secular media.

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