Netanyahu Pushes Ultra-Orthodox Pilgrimage Defying Virus Experts
Netanyahu Pushes Ultra-Orthodox Pilgrimage Defying Virus Experts
(Bloomberg) --
In the battle between religion and science in Israel, ultra-Orthodox Jews may gain the upper hand.
Religious parties are pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to let tens of thousands of Breslov Hasidim make the annual pilgrimage to the gravesite of their movement’s founder in Ukraine, which, like Israel, is seeing a surge in coronavirus cases. Some are threatening to pull out of Netanyahu’s already brittle coalition if the government declares a new lockdown during the upcoming Jewish holiday season.
Despite opposition from Israeli health experts, Netanyahu appointed an ally to try to facilitate the flights, and the Defense Ministry said it would repurpose hotels to quarantine those returning from Ukraine, which could cost the cash-strapped Treasury millions. While it’s not clear Ukraine would even open its recently shut borders to the Hasidim, ultra-Orthodox are using the issue to pile pressure on a prime minister eager to appease them.
It was under similar political straits that Israel bungled its reopening of the economy in late May with an abandonment of caution that has led cases and deaths to steadily climb. The country’s coronavirus czar, Dr. Ronni Gamzu, wrote to the Ukrainian president asking him to ban the pilgrimage, drawing a torrent of criticism from a top Netanyahu ally.
“It’s not an easy problem,” Gabi Barbash, a former director general of Israel’s Healthy Ministry and frequent adviser to the country’s coronavirus task force, said in a telephone interview. “One of the core lessons of this pandemic is that if the virus gets to one place, it goes all over.”
Ultra-Orthodox parties represent about a ninth of Israel’s population but wield an influence that far exceeds their numbers. Since no major political party commands a majority, the prime minister has relied on them to form governments for most of his career.
Yaakov Litzman, the head of the United Torah Judaism party and health minister until May, told local media last week that his party would consider quitting government if a lockdown is imposed during the holidays and travel to Ukraine banned. A group of Breslov Hasidim took the rare step of joining the overwhelmingly secular and mixed gender anti-Netanyahu protests in Jerusalem last Saturday.
The trip to Uman in central Ukraine, where Rabbi Nachman founded the Breslov movement more than 200 years ago, is seen as essential by his followers. They believe he improves God’s judgment of them on the Jewish Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur.
“Netanyahu is trying to have his cake and eat it too,” said Professor Uriel Abulof of Tel Aviv University’s School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs. “He could have said no, this is the most horrible idea health-wise, but it does serve a political purpose.”
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