Over a thousand ultra-Orthodox men on Sunday attended a holiday gathering in the central city of Bnei Brak headlined by Rabbi Dov Lando, the spiritual leader of the Knesset’s Degel HaTorah party, despite Home Front Command restrictions on the size of public events during wartime.

A spokesman for Rabbi Lando insisted that at the event, held at the Machnovka yeshiva, “both the rabbi and the audience are situated in protected spaces.”

According to Home Front Command guidelines, gatherings in central Israel can be held with up to 50 people if there is access to a nearby shelter.

In a statement, the Israel Police said that an initial request for a permit for an outdoor event was rejected and that after learning of this evening’s underground event, where there was no “immediate danger,” law enforcement “immediately” entered into dialogue with organizers and “at this stage, the event is beginning to disperse.”

Rabbi Lando’s mass event was held only a day after Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni accused the High Court of Justice of issuing an illegal ruling, after the court........

© The Times of Israel