Flights canceled to Israel • Gov’t to establish emergency business fund
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tasked Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon with establishing an emergency fund by Sunday to support businesses deemed critical for the economy, as the novel coronavirus outbreak continues to impact industries nationwide.
“The good news is that the Israeli economy is in good shape, even very good shape,” Netanyahu said Thursday, prior to a meeting with senior financial leaders, including Kahlon, Economy Minister Eli Cohen and Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron.
“The bad news is that nobody knows how this epidemic will spread, where it will reach and how much it will cost in terms of the economy,” he said. “Therefore, we have been prepared for what has already happened and for what may happen.”
Netanyahu said the Finance Ministry
will work with the Bank of Israel to offer financial tools to specific businesses in need. He also called on companies, owners and businesspeople to work together with relevant government authorities and obey Health Ministry instructions regarding the 14-day self-isolation of workers returning from abroad.
At the meeting, Manufacturers Association of Israel president Ron Tomer and Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce president Uriel Lynn called on Netanyahu to establish a “safety net” for Israeli businesses.
Local businesses have lost billions of shekels due to the quarantine of employees, lack of supplies, delivery delays and cancellation of flights, they said.
One sector struggling under the weight of the outbreak is the aviation industry, with further flight cancellations to and from Israel announced on Thursday.
Following additional limits on movement announced by the Health Ministry for individuals arriving from Austria, Germany, Spain, France, Switzerland and Italy on Wednesday, German airline Lufthansa and subsidiaries Swiss Air Lines, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines announced they would halt flights for three weeks, commencing Sunday.
Air France-KLM canceled all flights on Thursday and Friday, and Italian airline Alitalia will now only operate one flight per day to Israel instead of five.