MK Moshe Arbel (Shas) has approached the Ministry of Justice with a request to cancel all fines given for people leaving their homes beyond the allowed distance during the October lockdown.

 The Supreme Court already ruled that all fines given during the October lockdown to people who left their homes beyond the permitted distance to participate in a protest must be canceled. The right to protest is a basic right in a democracy and the people should not be fined for it.  Arbel has petitioned the Ministry to equate people leaving their homes for the purpose of prayer to that Supreme Court decision and any fines given to people who left their homes for the purpose of prayer should be canceled retroactively.

According to Kol Hai News, the Ministry of Justice is considering the request, and is also considering canceling all fines from that lockdown (for leaving home beyond permitted distance). The reason for this consideration is that the police do not have accurate information on the fines and who got fined for what exactly and why they had been beyond the permitted distance. 

Arbel is also requesting that should these fines get canceled, anybody who already paid the fine should get his money back. And obviously anyone in the process of legal issues because of the fines (ie added interest, collection agency, hotzaa lapoel, etc) should be released form all that with it canceled.

We all knew it was coming. Nothing surprising here. Break the rules, don't pay the fines and the politicians will get it canceled for you. The rest of us are freiers, suckers, but that's ok, and we knew it already anyway.