Hundreds of guests from a radical ultra-Orthodox faction on Thursday attended an illegal mass gathering in Jerusalem in honor of the Tu B'Shevat holiday, blatantly violating the lockdown restrictions.
When dozens of police officers arrived at the scene, all attendees - most of whom belonging to the Belz Hasidic dynasty - had already dispersed to prearranged shuttle busses to take them out of town.
Dozens of such Tishes (mass Hasidic gatherings with the senior rabbi of the dynasty) were held throughout Jerusalem's predominantly-Haredi Mea She'arim neighborhood, all taking place in confined spaces with hundreds and sometimes thousands of participants.
Some of the extreme Hasidic factions - like Toldot Aharon, Toldot Avraham Yitzhak and Dushinskia - held their events openlyw at their main synagogues, with others opting for out of town halls to evade the police.
There were also reports of smaller communities attempting to "deceive the enemy" by changing the locations or times of their holiday festivities at the last minute.
Police raid Tish in Jerusalem's Mea She'arim neighborhood
Ahead of the holiday the mainstream ultra-Orthodox leadership, thanks mostly to persuasion from health officials, urged their followers to call off all Tu B'Shevat festivities.
According to Health Ministry data, almost a quarter of confirmed coronavirus cases this week were within ultra-Orthodox communities, two times more than in the general sector.
Positivity rate among the sector is also two times higher than the national average at 20.2%.