Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a new welfare package on Thursday for citizens who have lost livelihoods due to the coronavirus crisis, saying the measures would provide an economic safety net for the coming year.
A surge in contagion prompted the government to re-impose closures on businesses this week, dashing hopes of a recovery from a record 21% unemployment and stoking anger at the slow payout of $29 billion in aid previously pledged by the state.
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In a televised news conference, Netanyahu said Israel would make those who lost jobs to the crisis eligible for welfare through to mid-2021, provide retraining for "coronavirus-era professions" and expedite grants for ailing businesses.
"We want to arrive at a situation where people know how we will manage to live over the coming year," he said. "It would cover all of the losses, but we have to provide a security net."
Also Thursday, a ministerial committee decided that parts of certain cities which have seen unusually high numbers of coronavirus cases will be under a seven-day lockdown, with access to and from them restricted, starting at 1 p.m. Friday. The decision was announced in a joint press release from the Prime Minister's Office and the Health Ministry.
The restrictions will apply to major neighborhoods in Beit Shemesh, Jerusalem, Lod, Ramle, and Kiryat Malachi.
In addition to restricted access to and from these neighborhoods, movement within their boundaries will also be restricted, as will business operations.
Health Ministry Director Professor Hezi Levi also plans to sign a directive restricting educational activity for children ages 10 and up in Modi'in Illit, Beit Shemesh, and three neighborhoods in Ashdod.
Israel Hayom met with residents of the areas that would be under a shut-down starting Friday afternoon, and heard the residents' frustration. Lod Mayor Yair Ravivo threatened not to cooperate with the decision unless the government made public the parameters and data it uses to decide when and where to enact closures.
"I want equality. In certain cities, they're quick to pull the trigger. The government doesn't understand the extent of this," Revivo said.
Oren, a resident of Ganei Ya'ar in Lod, said that closing an entire neighborhood meant turning it into a "breeding ground" for coronavirus, "all because of 20 confirmed cases."
"The people who test positive could be moved to corona treatment facilities, all let thousands of others work," Oren said.
The Chabad neighborhood of Kiryat Malachi has already set up its own coronavirus "war room."
Residents who spoke to Israel Hayom said that most of the population of the city's Schunat Chabad quarter had been under a "voluntary closure" for a week, and that every family in quarantine was receiving deliveries of food and supplies.
Yotam Yiftachi of Beit Shemesh said, "Either they shut down the entire country, or nothing at all. Other than that, I'm not afraid of getting the virus."
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Yiftachi's friend Menachem said, "There are 100 kids in an apartment building in a Haredi neighborhood, so a closure won't drop the infection rate. It will only hurt. It's a punishment, not a solution."
A lockdown has already been applied to Betar Illit. Mayor Meir Rubenstein, who is managing the work of evacuating residents assigned to quarantine from their homes and into dedicated facilities, said, "With God's help, by the start of Shabbat dozens more people will be evacuated. With God's help, we'll beat the virus."
Yori Yalon and Dan Lavie contributed to this report.
