How Israel fell from its coronavirus pedestal
Israel was lauded around the world for its swift action against the novel coronavirus in March, which led to low rates of illness and death. But with new cases topping 1,000 daily and more than half of the sick becoming infected in just the last 40 days, Israel has fallen from its pedestal and the international community is now looking to the country as an example of what not to do.
Israelis are banned from entering several countries, including European Union nation states, and are on Germany’s list of high-risk countries, which means that anyone from Israel who is permitted to enter must spend 14 days in quarantine.
Earlier this week, The Washington Post ran an article by its Jerusalem bureau chief Steve Hendrix in which he wrote that “Israelis across the political spectrum are asking what’s gone wrong and
demanding to know how their government could have fumbled so badly after getting it so right.
“Health and policy experts, while crediting the government for dampening the virus’s spread in the spring, cite a raft of failures for its summer resurgence,” Hendrix explained. Later, he quoted opposition leader Yair Lapid, who said last week that: “We are the only country in the world that is less prepared for the second wave than it was for the first.”
A few days before, a Sky
News report ran with the headline, “Coronavirus: Britain beware – Israel living the consequences of trying to
“overcame almost impossible obstacles” to come to this plan and, “if needed, we will bring even more plans in the future.”
The plan focuses on three sectors of the business community: self-employed, businesses and workers in general.
Starting next week, self-employed Israelis and business owners who cannot work will be given a NIS 7,500 grant, without them having to ask for it. The move will cover roughly 380,000 people.
This financial support will be given in different installments to self-employed workers at least through June 2021.
Moreover, businesses that can prove they have lost as much as 40% of their revenue will also receive support commensurate to their losses.
The prime minister committed to providing vocational training to unemployed workers who wish to gain new skills that could make them more