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Reuters

Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews marking the Purim holiday threw stones at police in Jerusalem on Sunday, as tensions persist between authorities and a deeply religious community accused of repeatedly flouting coronavirus restrictions.
Police said residents of Jerusalem’s mainly ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighbourhood threw stones at officers who had cut down police effigies hanging from power lines.
“Police commissioner Yaakov Shabtai” was written on one effigy.

Some ultra-Orthodox shouted “Nazis” at the officers, an Agence France-Presse reporter said, while others threw liquid-filled bottles as well as rocks.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews, known in Israel as haredim, have in recent months clashed repeatedly with police enforcing coronavirus restrictions on gatherings.
They have openly defied bans on large gatherings, including during periods of nationwide lockdown, packing Jerusalem’s streets for the funerals of prominent rabbis as police looked on.
Sunday’s incident came as Jerusalem celebrated Purim, the festival that includes public celebrations marking a story from ancient Persia that recounts Jews overcoming a murderous plot against them.
The biblical Book of Esther, which tells the Purim story, says antagonist Haman and his 10 sons were hanged, leading to the tradition of hanging effigies of figures representing enemies of the Jewish people.
Some haredim consider the Jewish state and its police a threat to their traditional lifestyle.
A police statement said one suspect was detained for hanging the effigies.
“Police forces will act in any place uniform-wearers will be harmed,” it said.
Israel had imposed a nighttime curfew for three nights beginning on Thursday evening to curb the spread of the coronavirus during Purim.

Gatherings were limited to a maximum of 10 people in closed spaces and 20 in open spaces, and police were preventing people from entering Jerusalem on Sunday.
Last year, gatherings for Purim were banned, but many defied the restrictions, in moves authorities said contributed to the spread of the virus.
Israel has officially recorded almost 775,000 novel coronavirus cases and over 5,700 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The government has begun gradually easing restrictions in place since December, when it imposed its third lockdown.
The Jewish state has administered the two recommended shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to more than 3.3 million people, over a third of its population.


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Coronavirus pandemic

Police attacked with stones at Jewish costume festival Purim in Israel

Ultra-Orthodox Jews, some wearing costumes, scuffle with police officers during celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Purim, in Jerusalem, Israel on Sunday. Photo: AP

28 February 2021, Israel, Jerusalem: An Ultra orthodox Jewish boy dressed in costume, takes part in the celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Purim at Jerusalem's Mea She'arim neighbourhood. Purim, also called the Festival of Lots, is a carnival-like Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from a plot to massacre all the Jews in the ancient Persian Empire, as recounted in the Book of Esther. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

28 February 2021, Israel, Jerusalem: Ultra Orthodox Jewish people dressed in costumes, take part in the celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Purim at Jerusalem's Mea She'arim neighbourhood. Purim, also called the Festival of Lots, is a carnival-like Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from a plot to massacre all the Jews in the ancient Persian Empire, as recounted in the Book of Esther. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

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People swim at a pool where a "Green Badge" is required to enter, as Israel reopens swathes of its economy, continuing to lift restrictions of a national lockdown to fight the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Gordon Gym and Pool in Tel Aviv, Israel February 21, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

‘Royal purple’ fabric scraps from King David era found at ancient copper mine in Israel

A fragment of purple fabric excavated from the Timna Valley, an ancient copper production district, in southern Israel. Photo: HO / Israel Antiquities Authority / AFP

A handout picture made available through the Israeli Antiquities Authority on January 30, 2021 shows a view of a fragment of purple fabric excavated from the Timna Valley, an ancient copper production district, in southern Israel approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of the Gulf of Aqaba. - Israeli researchers said they had found scraps of fabric coloured with a royal purple dye "dating from the time of King David and King Solomon" from the Timna Valley. It was the first time purple-dyed Iron Age textiles had been found in Israel or the Levant, the statement added. (Photo by Dafna GAZIT / Israeli Antiquities Authority / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / HO / ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS / XGTY

Ultra-Orthodox Jews attack Israeli police, trigger riot over coronavirus lockdown

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men study inside a synagogue in Bnei Brak, Israel. Photo: AFP

Israelis, wearing protective masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shop for food supplies at a supermarket in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak on January 7, 2021, as Israel prepares to enter a stringent two-week lockdown at midnight. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)

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Purim is commemorated with the wearing of fancy dress costumes, donating food for feasts – and drinking to excess
The festival is drawn from the biblical Book of Esther’s account of how the Jews were spared genocide in ancient Persia



Some ultra-Orthodox Jews shouted ‘Nazis’ at the officers, while others threw liquid-filled bottles as well as rocks.


Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Israel

Police attacked with stones at Jewish costume festival Purim in Israel

Purim is commemorated with the wearing of fancy dress costumes, donating food for feasts – and drinking to excess The festival is drawn from the biblical Book of Esther’s account of how the Jews were spared genocide in ancient Persia

Purim is commemorated with the wearing of fancy dress costumes, donating food for feasts – and drinking to excess

The festival is drawn from the biblical Book of Esther’s account of how the Jews were spared genocide in ancient Persia