Authorities also halted all public transportation to and from Jerusalem from Saturday night until Sunday night on the third night of a nationwide curfew to prevent gatherings during the holiday.
Shushan Purim celebrations, held this year on Sunday, mark the final day of the festive holiday and are traditionally celebrated in walled cities such as Jerusalem and Safed.
In a bid to limit mass celebrations, the government enacted a nightly curfew on Thursday Friday and Saturday, instructing Israelis to remain up to a kilometer from home between 8:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. and to avoid any gatherings. Only essential businesses may open during those overnight hours.
But much of the public has ignored the government’s appeals and police have struggled to clamp down on dozens of daily Purim parties in recent days that have drawn mass crowds.
A party was reported on Friday afternoon in Tel Aviv, with police doing little to disperse the crowds.
Police on Thursday night dispersed over 100 Purim parties and events around the country that saw dozens or hundreds of people congregate against health regulations and in violation of a nationwide curfew.
Holiday celebrations were broken up in Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Ashdod, Rehovot, among other locations, officials said. Dozens of people were arrested or detained. Fines were handed out to both participants and organizers of events.
Health Minister Yuli Edelstein tweeted Friday morning: “I am appealing to the handful of people who can harm us all: Stop. Leave the parties until after the coronavirus. Forego the tisches [Hassidic gatherings] this time. The religious edict of merriment during the [Purim] holiday must not come at the expense of the public.”
Edelstein on Thursday warned of possible restrictions over Passover if celebratory gatherings are held during Purim.
Following festive gatherings during Purim last year, which came at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a jump in coronavirus cases in Israel.
