Ultra-Orthodox violently clash with police at funeral of hassidic rebbe

Violent confrontations broke out between police and the ultra-Orthodox community on Monday, this time at a funeral procession in Ashdod for the grand rabbi of the Pittsburgh hassidic group Rabbi Mordechai Yissachar Ber Leifer.The hassidic rebbe died Monday night aged 64 from COVID-19.Several thousand hassidim gathered for his funeral in Ashdod on Monday in contravention of COVID-19 regulations, with tightly packed crowds in narrow streets participating in the funeral procession, leading the police to try and disperse the mourners.Video footage from the scene showed severe confrontations between the police and the assembled hassidim, with the police herding and shoving them away from the procession.Cries of “Nazis” from some of the hassidic mourners could clearly be heard as the police sought to disperse the crowd.The funeral was coordinated with the police, but no permit was issued for a mass gathering of mourners, according to police commander Ronen Azrieli of the Lachish district.Azrieli told The Jerusalem Post that as soon as the police learned that the rabbi had died they began speaking with senior officials in the community and explained to them what needed to be done to ensure the funeral comported with Health Ministry guidelines.He said that the community did indeed undertake the necessary preparations both in the hall where eulogies were given and at the cemetery, and that community officials promised that only “five or six” buses with 20 people on each would take part in the funeral procession, along with several other vehicles.The community also promised to hide the grave site in the cemetery and guarantee that only 20 people would be allowed in that area, along with more distant areas for each “capsule” of 20 mourners on the buses.Azrieli said the community did undertake the necessary arrangements to fulfill these guarantees, but that because of the large number of hassidim living in close proximity to the cemetery, it proved impossible to prevent them from participating in the funeral.When the police saw that instead of several capsules of 20 people, there were thousands of mourners participating in the funeral, a decision was made to disperse the crowd.No arrests were made during the incident.