Israeli leaders clash with ultra-Orthodox blockades over Covid-19 vaccines

“This is what the unequal execution looks like,” said Benny Gantz, the defense minister and leader of the Blue and White Party. “Millions of families and children are locked in their homes and follow the rules, while thousands of haredim crowd the funeral, most without masks,” he said, using the Hebrew word for ultra-Orthodox.

The funerals followed anti-blockade protests in Bnei Brak and other ultra-Orthodox cities a week earlier, in which ultra-Orthodox men threw stones at police, set up dumpsters and tore down street signs and light poles.

Israeli health officials have also sought to persuade ultra-Orthodox to take a Covid-19 vaccine. While much of Israel has lined up for vaccinations, the ultra-Orthodox population has been slower to get on board, with some doubting the safety of the vaccine and others suggesting that the country’s citizens are being used to test its effectiveness.

“This is not a vaccine. It’s an experiment, “said Izhar Mahpud, a 57-year-old resident of Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city east of Tel Aviv, which was one of the most affected by Covid-19 in the country. “I’m not ready to be a rat in a lab.”

Israel aims to vaccinate a large part of its population by March and make the economy work again, allowing small nations along the Mediterranean to serve as a global showcase for how to defeat the deadly virus. But the ultra-Orthodox have undermined these lofty goals, largely by blocking blockages and avoiding vaccines.

The ultra-Orthodox in Israel represent about 12% of the population, but represent almost a third of the country’s coronavirus infections. Israel currently has 68,331 active cases of coronavirus, with new infections standing at about 7,000 a day.

Officials are struggling to control the latest growth. A British variant of the virus accounts for about 70% of current coronavirus infections, even though almost a third of Israelis have received the first dose of vaccination. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu banned all international flights last month, and lawmakers passed a bill on Sunday, doubling fines for violations of the blockade.

Public health officials say the ultra-Orthodox community is particularly vulnerable to the fast-moving virus. Their large families usually live in crowded apartments and traditionally avoid electronic communication that helps obtain information about vaccines.

Data from the Israeli Ministry of Health show that Israeli ultra-Orthodox people are vaccinated at a lower rate than other groups. Of those over 60, to whom the campaign was most open, 85% of all Israelis received the vaccine, compared with 78% of ultra-Orthodox in Israel.

Ultra-Orthodox and Arab cities are lagging behind in terms of overall immunity to the virus due to lower vaccination rates, according to Eran Segal, a computer biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, who presented the Israeli government’s findings Sunday night. “It will slow down the pandemic,” Mr Segal said.

Health officials say infections in ultra-Orthodox communities have dropped in recent days as some leading rabbis approved vaccinations. There are also ongoing efforts to combat misinformation and get residents to get the vaccine.

In the large ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, local officials set up a war room. In the oval room, with wooden paneling on the top floor of the town hall, with portraits of important religious figures lining the walls, the ultra-Orthodox young people sit around a large circular table with large jugs of hand sanitizer and work with phones. They look at spreadsheets with information about all those who have been or have not been vaccinated.

Officials called nearly 10,000 people who had not been vaccinated – and spoke to nearly 7,000 of them. About 5,000 said they wanted a vaccine, but had not yet received one. About 1,500 people did not want to be vaccinated. City officials are working to overcome any obstacles raised during the calls.

For those who do not have a walk to a vaccination center, they arrange one. If future vaccine recipients cannot contact their health insurance providers, they will also help. And if someone you reach doesn’t want to get the vaccine, notice why.

Avi Blumenthal, who leads health ministry information to ultra-Orthodox, said he and his staff search the lists of ultra-Orthodox cities in Israel to find rabbis who are against vaccination and look for answers. In one case, an ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem had low vaccination rates that many attributed to its rabbi’s alleged anti-vaccination position. But when health officials interviewed the rabbi, they found out it was actually pro-vaccine – someone had spread a rumor that the vaccine was dangerous.

Yehuda Shaish, 63, who runs four ultra-Orthodox schools in Bnei Brak and nearby towns, said he waited until the rabbis blessed the vaccines. “After the rabbis authorized him, I went happily,” he said.

Even with the blessings of rabbis, many ultra-Orthodox remain skeptical about vaccines. Yedidya Hasson, 28, who runs a network of 30,000 WhatsApp groups in which some members have questioned the wisdom of vaccines and coronavirus restrictions, says she will not get the vaccine at least for now because she fears possible health risks.

“When it comes to vaccines,” he said, “I think the Israeli media is hiding the truth.”

Some ultra-Orthodox leaders say that while the community’s mistrust may help explain vaccine resistance and recent manifestations of civil disobedience, this mistrust does not justify violating rules that endanger public health. “You expect religious people to be more moral,” said Rabbi Dov Halbertal, a prominent ultra-Orthodox lawyer and commentator. “But when it comes to the biggest life-saving test, we fail.”

Write to Felicia Schwartz to [email protected]