Israel’s parliament has handed the government the power to ban mass protests during the country’s second nationwide coronavirus lockdown. Demonstrators will be confined to groups of up to 20 people and must stay within 1km (0.6 miles) of their homes. The law should have been part of a range of measures passed on Friday. But the government struggled to get the necessary votes after critics accused it of trying to stifle protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. For weeks, thousands of people have gathered outside his official residence in Jerusalem to demand he resign over corruption allegations and his handling of the pandemic. Mr Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing. media captionWhat does a second lockdown feel like? The protests have continued despite a dramatic resurgence of Covid-19. Israel currently has the world’s highest infection rate per capita, with the daily number of new cases exceeding 8,000 last week despite the second lockdown. Since the start of the pandemic more than 237,000 cases and 1,528 deaths have been reported in the country, which has a population of nine million. Israel tightens second lockdown amid acrimony The law approved by the Knesset early on Wednesday gives ministers the power to declare a “special state of emergency” related to the coronavirus pandemic for renewable one-week periods. During that time, people will not be allowed to go more than 1km from their homes to take part in a protest – a limit that is already applied to journeys for anything other than essential purposes, such as buying food or medicine. Demonstrators will also be confined to “capsules” of no more than 20 people. Mr Netanyahu has described the protests against his premiership as “coronavirus incubators” without providing evidence to support the claim. Protest organisers called the vote on the new powers an “execution ceremony for democracy”. Yair Golan of the left-wing Meretz party has warned the restrictions “won’t stop the demonstrations”. “The anger growing in the streets will find its way out,” he said. BBC Middle East correspondent Tom Bateman says tensions have come to the fore over Israel’s democratic versus its religious character; with a heated debate about restrictions on protest and prayer. A top scientist warned that allowing worship inside synagogues on Yom Kippur – Judaism’s holiest day, which fell on Monday – risked “mass transmission”; while reports have emerged of widespread flouting of the rules in some of Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox areas. Zahi Shaked A tour guide in Israel and his camera zahigo25@walla.com +972-54-6905522 tel סיור עם מורה הדרך ומדריך הטיולים צחי שקד 0546905522 My name is Zahi Shaked In 2000 I became a registered liscenced tourist guide. My dedication in life is to pass on the ancient history of the Holy Land. Following upon many years of travel around the world, which was highlighted by a very exciting emotional and soul-searching meeting with the Dalai Lama, I realized that I had a mission. To pass on the the history of the Holy Land, its religions, and in particular, the birth and development of Christianity. In order to fulfill this “calling” in the best way possible, I studied in depth, visited, and personally experienced each and every important site of the ancient Christians. I studied for and received my first bachelors degree in the ancient history of the Holy Land, and am presently completing my studies for my second degree.(Masters) Parralel to my studies, and in order to earn a living, I was employed for many years in advertising. What I learned there was how to attract the publics attention, generate and, increase interest, and assimilate information. All this I use as tools to describe, explain and deepen the interest in the sites that we visit. From my experience, I have learned that in this way, the Holy Land becomes more than just history, and that the large stones that we see scattered about in dissaray, join together one by one until they become – a Byzantine Church. This also happens when I lead a group of Pilgrims in the Steps of Jesus. We climb to the peak of Mount Precipice, “glide” over the land to the Sea of Galilee, land on the water and “see” the miracle which enfolds before us. This is a many faceted experience. Not only history which you will remember and cherish, but an experience which I hope will be inplanted in your hearts and minds, and will accompany you all the days of your life.MEHR ANSEHEN
