A Knesset bill that would increase the fines issue to people caught violating Israel's COVID public health laws is slated to be presented to the Knesset for a first reading on Monday.
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On Saturday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin and asked him to promote the bill. The prime minister intends to expedite the legislation, apparently in response to public criticism over lax enforcement of the COVID restrictions in the Haredi sector.
The Corona cabinet previously approved the bill, but it stalled when it was initially brought to the Knesset, where it encountered opposition from the Haredi factions, who object to it mainly because it stipulates that any educational institution operating in violation of public health directives will be fined 20,000 shekels ($6,110), significantly more than the current fine of 5,000 shekels ($1,500) currently handed to schools that open illegally.
Netanyahu agreed to discuss the bill with Shas leader Aryeh Deri, United Torah Judaism leader Yakov Litzman, and head of the Knesset Finance Committee Moshe Gafni by last Wednesday or Thursday, but no such conversations took place.
Sources in the Haredi factions stressed on Saturday night that until their representatives could discuss the matter with Netanyahu, they would not budge.
One party source told Israel Hayom that there was a sense in the Haredi public that the bill was "political, directed at the Haredi sector."
"It taints them. We don't need to go crazy. We need enforcement. Schools that are open are fined," the source said.
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