Israel's coronavirus cabinet, which leads the government's response to the pandemic, voted on Monday to increase fines for violations of health regulation, setting it on course for a vote in the Knesset.
The government on Sunday approved in principle the bill allowing to significantly raise the fines for violation of COVID-19 restrictions. Now that the bill has also been approved by the cabinet, it is set to be tabled before the Knesset's Ministerial Committee for Legislation.
The fine for holding mass gatherings, such as opening an educational institution, holding a wedding, ceremony, show or party in violation of the regulations was increased from NIS 5,000 ($1,467) to NIS 20,000 ($5,871).
The bill, if passed, would predominantly affect the ultra-Orthodox sector, where many educational institutions have been reopened in defiance of government orders. The fine increase would also affect the Arab sector, where mass weddings are still being held in violation of Health Ministry's directives.
In addition, a business that opens in violation of coronavirus regulations will face a NIS 10,000 ($2,935) fine, instead of NIS 5,000, as is the case at the moment.
The bill passed in the cabinet almost unanimously - with the exception of Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who protested higher fines for reopening of educational institutions, which he claims should not have been closed in the first place.
"European countries that entered a second lockdown did not close the education system because they realized that it has a high moral importance," Deri said, referring to countries such as Germany, Italy and France. "We have closed the education system and its reopening is too slow, in my opinion. A fine, which specifically targets educational institutions is a terrible mistake, and yet it is the highest [of all fines for coronavirus violations]."
Deri claimed the move mainly targets the ultra-Orthodox education system and asked to remove educational institutions from the category of mass gatherings eligible to be penalized, or vote on a reduced fine.
If the bill is approved in the Knesset committee, it will be tabled for approval in the first reading Knesset plenum. If approved by the Knesset, where it set to face stern opposition from the ultra-Orthodox parties, the bill will be debated in the Constitution and Justice Committee ahead of the second and third readings.
Earlier on Monday, a scientist advising the government on its coronavirus response said that Israel should reopen more carefully as it is facing a new surge in COVID-19 cases.
Israel on Monday saw the drop in daily new coronavirus cases slowing, with its R value – the number of people that one infected person will potentially pass the virus onto – surpassing 0.8, just three weeks after some lockdown restrictions were lifted. The government had identified an R value of 0.8 as its maximum limit before taking more steps to slow the spread of the virus.