TEL AVIV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th September, 2020) Israel's Knesset has approved in the second and third readings an amendment to the law on the coronavirus response that permits to restrict ongoing mass rallies amid the fresh COVID-19 lockdown, the official parliament's channel reported on Wednesday.
An amendment was passed in a 46-38 vote, according to the broadcaster. The first reading took place on Thursday, when 36 people voted in favor and 32 lawmakers voted against the amendment.
Last Thursday, new coronavirus restrictions came into force in Israel, building up on the new lockdown that took effect earlier this month for three weeks with the possibility of a further extension.
Israel's top COVID-19 policy advisor and the director general of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Ronni Gamzu, has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of tightening COVID-19 restrictions in an attempt to contain the month-long anti-government protest that saw citizens calling on Netanyahu to step down amid an economic crisis caused by the pandemic, as well as his corruption charges.
So far, Israel has confirmed over 239,000 cases of the infection, with the country's total death toll currently standing at 1,547.
