There is an expensive type of mask used for elderly, disabled and
seriously ill people that has an air pump built in that reportedly could
provide protection to many (but probably not all) haredim with beards.
But the government does not have enough of those masks to give them to
haredim. Instead, haredim are refusing to shave their beards, with most
opting to wait until leading haredi rabbis tell them they must shave –
something many believe will not happen until an actual chemical weapon
has struck Israel or such an attack is undeniably imminent.
Israeli civilian gas mask with NATO filter
Haredim With Beards Reportedly Denied Gas Masks By IDF Home Front Command
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Israeli haredim are growing increasingly panicked as the possibility of war with Syria looms.
The government is distributing gas masks to all citizens – except to haredim (or others) with beards, Ynet reported, because normal gas masks cannot provide protection to people whose beards are not shaved.
There is an expensive type of mask used for elderly, disabled and seriously ill people that has an air pump built in that reportedly could provide protection to many (but probably not all) haredim with beards. But the government does not have enough of those masks to give them to haredim. Instead, haredim are refusing to shave their beards, with most opting to wait until leading haredi rabbis tell them they must shave – something many believe will not happen until an actual chemical weapon has struck Israel or such an attack is undeniably imminent.
"The persistent refusal to produce a gas masks suitable for the bearded is further proof that the government does not tolerate a Jew with a beard," Member of Knesset Rabbi Yisrael Eichler of the haredi United Torah Judaism Party reportedly told Ynet. Eichler also reportedly said that he and other MKs asked the Treasury to pay for more masks with air pumps, but the Treasury refused.
The IDF, which is in charge of the gas masks, said withholding the expensive masks from bearded haredim is being done because it did not have enough money to buy more masks.
"The active kits are designed first those with medical issues who meet the criteria, and adults over the age of 73 who cannot be protected otherwise. Today, with the high cost of these kits, they are not distributed to the bearded,” an IDF spokesperson reportedly said.
The IDF’s Home Front Command has repeatedly been criticized for its lack of preparedness, ranging from ill-equipped public bomb shelters, semi-public bomb shelters in apartment buildings used as storerooms by occupants, and the lack of enough gas masks and other needed supplies. A significant number of semi-public bomb shelters are also used as synagogues and study halls and as a result can be (but are not always) unprepared for use as a shelter from attack.