300 Israelis arrested for defying coronavirus ban on Jewish holiday

May 13, 2020

Police in Israel have arrested more than 300 people who defied a ban on large gatherings to celebrate a minor Jewish holiday Monday night. 

Those arrested were observing Lag B’Omer, which ulta-Orthadox Jews customarily celebrate with bonfires, parades and potato roasting. 

Videos circulated on social media showing packed crowds dancing shoulder-to-shoulder Monday night despite a government ban on gatherings of more than 20 people. Israeli news outlets reported that as many as 1,000 residents of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim ignored the restrictions to celebrate outdoors. 

Police in northern Israel also arrested dozens attempting to enter the Mount Meron tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a second-century sage who is honored during the holiday. 

Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community of some 1.1 million has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. The Jewish town of Bnei Brak has the second highest rate of infections in the country, trailing only the capital Jerusalem.