How does gov’t work in isolation?

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread in Israel, more and more members of the government have had to go into self-isolation, whether due to contracting the illness or coming into contact with someone who is infected.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went into quarantine on Thursday after being in contact with Health Minister Ya’acov Litzman, who tested positive for COVID-19.

Mossad Director Yossi

Cohen and National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat also entered isolation for the same reason.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi went into quarantine a day earlier after exposure to an officer infected with coronavirus, though Kochavi tested negative for it.

Diaspora Minister Tzipi Hotovely is in isolation. Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Interior Minister Arye Deri and others were in self-isolation, along with several other MKs. The only non-minister MK in isolation as of Thursday is UTJ’s

eligible self-employed workers with a grant worth up to NIS 6,000. • are 180 countries that are doing better.

But Leshem said the ranking really depends on the number of people who have been tested. In Israel, we test about 7,000 people per day and are working toward testing as many as 30,000.

“In Israel, we have tested very mild cases that in other countries would not have been tested,” he said.

In the United Kingdom, for example, people who have a fever or cough are asked to enter home isolation for a week, but they are not tested. Therefore, the country does not know if those people had the virus, and they are not counted in its total cases.

The more important measurement, Leshem said, is mortality rate, and Israel has a low rate compared to other countries. This is likely because many of the patients in Israel are younger people who contracted the disease while traveling or coming in contact with their traveling peers, he said.

According to the Health Ministry, 37% of infected Israelis are under the age of 30, 15% are 30-39 and 13% are 40-49. Only 38% of patients were over 60. So far, only two of the patients who died were under 60.

“Considering we have a chronically starved health system,” Israel has done well at increasing the number of intensive-care beds in the country, purchasing ventilators and preparing more doctors and nurses to be able to respond if there would be a spike in cases, Leshem said.

Regarding certain haredi (ultra-Orthodox) population centers, such as Bnei Brak, he said: “When you introduce a highly infectious virus like coronavirus into a place that is highly populated, you expect to see a rapid rise in the number of cases.” But Israel has not done enough testing in the city, and “we don’t really know what the situation is,” he said

Leshem recommends that the government immediately enforce social distancing in the haredi community in collaboration with rabbinical leadership.

When will we know if we have “flattened the curve” and are keeping the number of daily cases at a manageable level for medical providers?

Within the next two or three weeks we will know if we have made the right policy choices, as the number of patients per day will either multiply or begin to flatten out, Leshem said.

“We still don’t have a very accurate measure of the infection in the community,” he said, adding that as we increase testing, Israel will be able to create a “heat map” that shows how many people are infected in which cities or towns.

“As we collect data from individual cities, we can figure out if the disease flares up in a certain region and can focus the intervention regionally and not

have to close the whole country,” Leshem said.

He predicted that people will be able to start going back to school and work in stages after Passover, while wearing protective masks and adhering to certain social-distancing protocols. Then the country will have to continue to screen people to ensure that returning to school and work does not increase the number of cases, especially for high-risk patients.

“One thing is certain: The minute we closed schools and reduced people-to-people contact by closing malls, restaurants and workplaces, the outbreak is slowing down,” Leshem said. “What we are seeing now are the results of the steps taken three weeks ago.”

He advised that the best estimates for an available vaccine are one to three years from now, and it is very difficult to say what is going to happen with the virus in the summer or next winter.

“Some say it will become better in the summer, but we really don’t know,” Leshem said.

As such, he said it is best to exercise caution.

“You have to think, how willing are you to take a risk? If you are wrong, you are risking thousands of deaths,” Leshem said. “We are in the mid-term. We can only get our report card at the end of the school year,” which will be in hindsight when the virus has run its course. •

thousands of kilometers away can affect us profoundly in short order and, whether out of self-interest or altruism, we should care what happens around the world. At the same time, we must rely upon ourselves to protect ourselves, and not have our health or welfare dependent upon foreign nations which have their own priorities. As the first century sage of the Mishnah Hillel famously said, “If I am not for myself who will be for me, and if I am only for myself what am I?” (Ethics of the Fathers, 1:14). Perhaps the virus is teaching us to do a better job finding the right balance.

Be connected but not too connected. How often do we engage with close friends or family with one eye on each other and the second glued to a smartphone. Now that we are all in isolation, the machines work fine but we have discovered the hard way that they is no substitute for personal contact. Perhaps the virus is teaching us that when this is all over, we should reaffirm the joy and value of eye-toeye, heart-to-heart interaction as the gold standard. At the same time, perhaps the virus is also teaching – again the hard way – that disconnecting from the outside world is fraught with peril. Those who came late to social distancing because they were disconnected unfortunately have borne the brunt of the illness.

The hand of God can be at its most powerful when it is least visible. We can’t see God nor prove divine intervention in any particular act or event. But the Bible does teach us that God’s acts can be at their most impactful when not accompanied by obvious supernatural force. We learn this from the 10 plagues inflicted upon the ancient Egyptians that we will recount shortly during the Passover Seder. The first nine plagues were all visibly supernatural, ranging from blood on the Nile to infestations to abject darkness and more. None of those were sufficient to convince Pharaoh to release the Israelites from bondage.

But the 10th plague was simply an illness that struck the first born among the Egyptians in the middle of the night – silent, invisible and deadly. And it was that plague which led to the Exodus. Perhaps the virus is teaching us that God remains in charge of the world even though his control is not visible in any ordinary sense.

Whether one agrees that all or some of these are lessons of the novel coronavirus, we can all agree that the lessons are painful and unprecedented. I am wishing and praying that we recover fully from this plague – physically and spiritually, individually and collectively.

The author is the US Ambassador to Israel.

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after coming into contact with another one of his advisers who also contracted the virus 14 days prior. He was tested – along with his family and several close advisers – on Monday. The tests were negative.

“We were prepared for such a possibility [of senior politicians and bureaucrats entering quarantine],” Bar Siman Tov said in a statement. “I will continue to manage my team through digital means... The need to go into isolation can happen to all of us, and we must obey instructions.”

He urged citizens to follow Health Ministry guidelines.

But Litzman might not have followed his office’s guidelines, Channel 12 reported Thursday. He reportedly prayed at a synagogue with a minyan on March 28, three days after the Health Ministry’s directive that “no person should pray in a place other than his place of residence unless prayers are being conducted in an open space.”

Testimony by residents in the haredi neighborhood in which Litzman lives suggests he violated the directives several other times. Neighbors said he prayed at a minyan more than 100 meters from his home.

“He prayed daily in the Beit Israel synagogue with my father,” a young man told Channel 12. “I suppose the health minister will not say he was there during any investigation, which raises risk here. There are people out there who don’t know they should be in isolation because they came in contact with him, and if it turns out they are carrying the disease, they will pass it on and on.”

In response, Litzman’s office denied the allegations. “The minister of health has been fully responsible for the entire period,” it said in a statement.

Litzman’s office accused the report of being rooted in politics, adding: “Attempt to involve political pressure in a national and global emergency must be rejected.”

Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid said if the prime minister does not dismiss Litzman from his role, “the government does not have the moral validity to manage the coronavirus crisis.”

Last week, after Litzman attended a Knesset session, parliamentary and Health Ministry officials checked the footage of the building’s security cameras to determine with whom he had direct contact. Both a Knesset security guard and UTJ MK Yisrael Eichler were ordered to enter self-isolation. The entrances to the offices of Litzman and Eichler have been disinfected.

The Health Ministry said a full epidemiological investigation is being carried out, and messages will be sent to any others who would be required to enter quarantine. It is expected that other senior officials will also be asked to self-isolate.

Litzman, who is a Gerrer hassid, may have contracted COVID-19 from another senior government or Health Ministry official or from someone within the haredi community, Health Ministry deputy director-general Itamar Grotto told Channel 12 Thursday.

A statement released to the press earlier said the Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Ya’acov Aryeh Alter, would not have to enter isolation.

Litzman, 72, is among the high-risk population because of his age.

“His condition at this time is mild,” Grotto told Channel 12. “He is not asymptomatic. There are some symptoms, but no more than that.”

Grotto said he would not have to enter isolation because his contact with Litzman was by phone or video conference.

Litzman will continue to serve in his role from home in accordance with medical recommendations.

At last count on Thursday, 34 Israelis had died of COVID-19 and 6,857 had tested positive for the virus. More than 100 were in serious condition. •

Asked if there could be truly in-depth and fruitful discussions in that format, Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis said: “It’s true that it’s simpler when we’re in the cabinet meeting room, but it’s possible.”

The ministers sign up in advance to speak by privately messaging Cabinet Secretary Tzachi Braverman.

A cabinet meeting earlier this week lasted from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., Smotrich said, indicating that everyone who had something to say was able to take part in the meeting.

“It’s definitely less practical, but we review the materials in advance… When we approve things, it’s after our offices worked on them before. I know what the proposals are in advance’ of the cabinet meetings, Smotrich said.

The Knesset has a different challenge: It does not allow remote voting. MKs cannot call in their votes, leave a note or have someone vote in their place.

After the first MKs had to go into isolation, the Knesset worked out a creative solution in which they walk into the legislature on a designated path and then vote from the plenum’s public mezzanine, which is shielded by glass. The area, which is two floors above where MKs sit, is usually open to the public, and the plate glass was installed so that protesters cannot throw anything or jump into the other areas. But it is now serving to protect lawmakers from coronavirus.

After UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tested positive for coronavirus, a question came up that has relevance for Israel: Who succeeds him if he becomes incapacitated?

There is no official line of succession in the law in the UK, and Tory MP Peter Bone told The Mirror: “Nobody seems to be able to tell me what happens if the prime minister is incapacitated… In a national emergency, you don’t want to be scrabbling around worrying about who is in charge. And you don’t want the foreign secretary and cabinet office minister arguing about who’s in charge.”

Similarly, Israel does not necessarily have a clear line of succession. By law, there can be a deputy prime minister who would become acting prime minister if the premier were to be incapacitated. That is the job that Blue and White leader Benny Gantz will hold for the next year and a half – assuming he and Netanyahu successfully form a unity government.

Netanyahu has never had that kind of deputy prime minister before, not wanting to give a boost to a possible heir. He usually appoints someone temporarily to be in charge when he travels abroad or if he undergoes any kind of medical procedure.

The law also states that if a prime minister is incapacitated for 100 days, then an election is automatically called. Before that election takes place, an MK from the prime minister’s party is chosen by the government to take over temporarily. •