The night closure on Purim took effect at 2030 until 0500 - will last up to Sunday

The night closure on Purim took effect tonight (Thursday) at 20:30 and will last until 05:00. Among other things, it will be forbidden during these hours to leave the house for a distance of more than 1,000 meters and stay in other houses. Public transportation will also be reduced, and as always in Israel, the outline for restrictions on lines was published at the last minute. The night closure will also apply on Friday and Saturday, but not on Sunday - then Shoshan Purim will be celebrated in Jerusalem.
The government has approved the restrictions for fear that as last year mass gatherings and celebrations - especially in areas where religious communities - will cause mass infection with the corona virus, which will hamper efforts to gradually withdraw from the quarantine, are already showing worrying signs of a re-increase in infection.
During the closure, restrictions on public transportation activities will also apply, but the outline regarding the restrictions was published only tonight, about an hour before it takes effect. According to the outline, the intercity lines stopped operating at 20:00 and will not operate on Saturday evenings either. Train stations all over the country were closed to passenger entry at 20:00, and will reopen on Sunday morning, with the resumption of service.
Municipal public transportation will continue to operate at 75% of the number of seats, in order to address the exit allowed under the regulations. Tomorrow, public, urban and intercity transportation will operate on a regular basis and with a reduced occupancy of 75%, on the regular schedules.
On Saturday night, urban public transportation will operate as a series, with no intercity public transportation activity. On Sunday, public, municipal and intercity transportation is again expected to operate on a regular basis and with 75% occupancy throughout the country.
In order to enforce the new restrictions, the police announced that they would place about 250 roadblocks and deploy 2,500 vehicles on them. "The Israel Police is acting in accordance with the government's instructions and has been deployed throughout the country with reinforced forces with thousands of police officers and hundreds of vehicles," said Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, who arrived at the checkpoint at the Morasha interchange and later visited the checkpoint in Tel Aviv.
The commissioner added: “We have deployed checkpoints between the cities and within the cities and other forces are working to enforce the closure in order to maintain public peace and prevent illegal gatherings. I appeal to the public to respect the guidelines and we look forward to full cooperation and avoidance of unnecessary confrontations. A blatant violation of the law and order will be dealt with with the tools at our disposal. "
Even before the nocturnal closure took effect, many gathered in synagogues this evening in Jerusalem where the Book of Esther was read. In some synagogues the reading was done according to groups that changed from time to time, in Sukkot and appropriate tents - but in others the worshipers simply crowded. Police moved into the city center and warned business owners to close immediately upon the entry of the night closure. Police officers documented the warnings so they could then give reports and even closure orders if necessary. Most business owners complied with the instructions and closed their stores.
These gatherings come against the backdrop of mass parties across the country that began as early as last night. According to police data from this morning, 31 parties were thwarted and 33 suspects were questioned and warned. Police said they would continue to work to locate underground parties during the holiday.
At one of the scattered parties in Rishon Lezion, the celebrants threw bottles at the police and tried to escape from them. In Kibbutz Givat Haim in Sharon, a party was even located inside a chicken coop. These incidents were reported after the outrage aroused by the sights the night before from Tel Aviv, where young and young people were celebrating at street parties in the Carmel market and on Rothschild Boulevard. At scattered parties, of course, the celebrants did not maintain social distance and did not wear masks.
The closure will end on the night between Saturday and Sunday, and will not take place on the night between Sunday and Monday, when the Shushan Purim celebrations in Jerusalem are expected. The government has thus left a gap in the existence of illicit parties and gatherings - and many Hasidic courts are already preparing for mass "tishs."
In order to soften the criticism of leaving this loophole, in the discussions that took place today, it was decided to completely ban public transportation and private buses to Jerusalem from Saturday night until Sunday evening, in order to prevent the Purim Lily gatherings. This decision was published only after it was published in Ynet that the Ministry of Transportation instructed the bus companies to reinforce the lines to Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and other cities where celebrations are expected.
A prominent activist in one of the Hassidic courtyards told Ynet this week: "Obviously we will have a tish this year as well - just like on Sukkot we did a house pumping party every night. The guidelines do not interest us, but it is clear that if there is no traffic restriction it will be much easier."
The deputy police spokeswoman, Deputy Superintendent Asi Aharoni, promised this morning in an interview with the Ynet studio that the police will enforce the restrictions in the ultra-Orthodox sector as well. He noted that enforcement will also be in private homes: "We set up the emergency and information centers so that we know about every party and we can also enforce in private homes. Today it is a fine of up to ten thousand shekels."