Police are preparing ahead of Lag B’Omer on Monday night to enforce restrictions on the public forbidding bonfires and large gatherings. Police forces will be increased in cities, forests, beaches, parks and open areas beginning on Monday through Wednesday, and will be reinforced by police aerial units which will be on the lookout for gatherings or bonfires from Israeli skies. Anyone caught violating the emergency orders may be fined up to NIS 500 ($142). About 2,500 police officers from the Northern District, Border Patrol and Traffic Division units will be deployed for the operation. The police sealed off the kever of Rav Shimon bar Yochai last night and only residents of the town of Meron will be allowed entry.

An Iranian missile fired during a training exercise in the Gulf of Oman struck a support vessel near its target, killing 19 Iranian sailors and wounding 15, Iran’s state media reported on Monday, amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. The Konarak, a Hendijan-class support ship, which was taking part in the exercise, was too close to a target during an exercise on Sunday when the incident happened, the reports said. The vessel had been putting targets out for other ships to target. The media said the missile struck the vessel accidentally. The friendly fire incident took place near the port of Jask, some 1,270 kilometers (790 miles) southeast of Tehran, in the Gulf of Oman, state TV said.

Vice President Mike Pence was self-isolating Sunday after an aide tested positive for the coronavirus last week, joining three of the nation’s top scientists in taking protective steps after possible exposure. An administration official said Pence was voluntarily keeping his distance from other people in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has repeatedly tested negative for COVID-19 since his exposure but was following the advice of medical officials. “Vice President Pence will continue to follow the advice of the White House Medical Unit and is not in quarantine,” spokesman Devin O’Malley said Sunday.

On Sunday evening, a large police force was sent to the Geulah neighborhood of Yerushalayim in order to empty out the Zichron Moshe Shteiblich. The Shteiblich was reopened recently and was holding minyanim of dozens of people against the guidelines of the Health Ministry which says explicitly not to do so. During the forced evacuation, the situation turned violent when numerous Charedi men refused to leave. Bystanders called the police Nazis and screamed: “Nazis leave here now.” Three men who refused to leave the shul were arrested by police after attacking officers. In a video capturing the incident, Yossel Gutfarb, a well-known personality in the Zichron Moshe Shteiblich, exchanged a few slaps with an officer who demanded that he leave the premises. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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According to the Chevra Kadisha in France, at least 1,300 Jews have passed away from the coronavirus, with some sources saying the figure is as high as 2,000, Makor Rishon reported on Friday. The number reflects only the Jews who received a Jewish burial since there are no statistics available on the religion of COVID-19 patients who passed away but did not receive a Jewish burial. Hundreds of Jews who passed away from the coronavirus were flown to Israel for burial, the report said. French Jewry, with about 500,000 Jews, has been the worst hit in Europe from the coronavirus pandemic. According to the tally of 1,300 Jewish fatalities, Jews comprise about 5% of Frances’s 25,897 fatalities from the coronavirus, which reflects a death toll six times that of the general population.

We are all encouraged to see several states ease, or begin talks of easing, the long and difficult quarantine which has successfully slowed the progress of COVID-19. We pray that the trajectory witnessed in several states continue its downward trend until this menace is totally eradicated. Notwithstanding our eagerness to “return to normal,” Agudath Israel of America reminds our constituents that the road to recovery will, and should be, deliberate. Easing restrictions abruptly and without closely monitoring its impact risks forfeiting the gains achieved by enduring this difficult quarantine.

Former President Barack Obama harshly criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as an “absolute chaotic disaster” during a conversation with ex-members of his administration, according to a recording obtained by Yahoo News. Obama also reacted to the Justice Department dropping its criminal case against Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, saying he worried that the “basic understanding of rule of law is at risk.” More than 78,400 people with COVID-19 have died in the United States and more than 1.3 million people have tested positive, according to the latest estimates from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Being that New York has flattened the curve of COVID-19, the Bobover Rebbe-45, HaRav Mordechai Dovid Unger, wants to reopen his Bais Medrash as soon as legally and safely permitted. As a first step, the Rebbe has instructed his Chasidim to get themselves tested by healthcare centers if they have antibodies, to see if they have immunity. The Rebbe says people will only be allowed to come to Shul if they were tested that they have antibodies, showing that they are immune to COVID-19. He will also only allow those under the age of 60, and without any medical conditions.

The Knesset voted on Wednesday evening to enforce restrictions regarding Lag B’Omer which falls out this year on Monday, May 11, rejecting a National Security Council recommendation to impose a nationwide lockdown for the day. Instead, the Knesset voted to ban virtually all bonfires, including private ones, and to close off the entire town of Meron to visitors from Thursday of this week until May 13, with the exception of residents of the town of Meron and workers and visitors to three “exclusive” bonfires on Lag B’Omer. Three Lag B’ Omer bonfires (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Dati Leumi) will be allowed on Lag B’Omer at Meron at staggered times and with the participation of up to 50 people by invitation only.