Edelstein: No Passover lockdown thanks to ‘vaccination miracle’
Gov’t prepares to cancel mask mandate, open skies • Death toll passes 6,000
Israel’s death toll from the coronavirus passed 6,000 on Sunday, but Health Minister Yuli Edelstein vowed that in light of the “vaccination miracle,” there will be no further restrictions on Passover.
The bad news that 6,008 people have died came alongside good news that the infection rate in Israel continues to decline. The ministry also announced that starting next week, a rapid testing system will allow those who are neither vaccinated nor recovered to obtain a temporary green passport.
Under the current regulations, access to several venues, including cultural and sports events, gyms and indoor restaurants, is limited to those who received their second vaccine shot at least a week earlier, or who have recovered from the virus.
Children under 16 have therefore been effectively excluded from these services.
Thanks to the rapid testing system, this will change from next Sunday.
Bars and clubs are also going to be allowed to reopen under the green passport outline.
According to the statement, businesses will be able to order rapid testing kits from approved companies, while the Health and Finance ministries will monitor price levels.
During a press briefing, Coronavirus Commissioner Prof. Nachman Ash explained that the authorities are working on all details of the guidelines. For example, if someone tests positive, they will be required to take a regular coronavirus test.
The Health Ministry is also preparing to cancel coronavirus regulations mandating that Israelis wear masks in open-air public spaces and to open Israel’s airspace to allow for tourism starting in April, N12 reported.
The opening would mean that Israelis could travel to destinations that accept the green passport such as Greece, Georgia and Cyprus, N12 reported.
The government also discussed airport regulations as the High Court of Justice prepared to hear a petition demanding that the authorities allow all Israelis who wish to vote to return before the March 23 election.
The cabinet decided to expand the list of flight destinations to allow more citizens to return from abroad before the election. These will include Madrid, Amsterdam, Addis Ababa and Larnaca.
Health officials, however, opposed a proposal to raise the number of daily returnees.
While Transportation Minister Miri Regev said that she was ready to increase the cap
from the current 3,000 to 4,000, Edelstein retorted that the only thing that could spoil the results achieved by Israel so far could be the variants coming in from abroad. Therefore, “we must not exceed the limit of 3,000,” he said.
Asked when Israeli families can expect to travel abroad again without the need for those who are not vaccinated to quarantine when they return, Ash said during the briefing that there is still a long way to go, because of variant fears.
Earlier in the morning, the health minister said that the election is the only reason the airport has reopened, explaining that the ministry opposed the move.
During an interview with 103 FM Radio, which is part of The Jerusalem Post Group, Edelstein expressed optimism.
“We have no reason to believe there will be a lockdown in Israel during Passover,” he pointed out. “We are seeing very encouraging data. We are experiencing the very miracle that we all dreamed of – the miracle of vaccines. More than five million good people went and got vaccinated and thanks to them, we now find ourselves where we are.”
“It is the first time that we are positively surprised by corona, and it feels good,” he said.
Israel has the world’s highest vaccination rate. More than 4.1 million, or 40% of the population, have received both shots and some 5.1 million people, more than half, have had at least one inoculation.
Ash also said that given the current numbers, Israelis will be able to celebrate Passover together, in a reasonable way. But he does not expect the limit of 20 people indoors to be increased.
Also on Sunday, the R rate, which measures the ability of the disease to spread, dropped below 0.8, the level that indicates that the pandemic is receding. The rate has been decreasing for several days, and it stood at 0.78.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report. •
has constantly surprised us.
Prof. Cyrille Cohen, director of the Immunotherapy Lab at BarIlan University, also stressed caution.
“It is very difficult to say how long the protection will last,” he said. “We know that in the case of other viruses from the corona family, it is not always durable. For example, the ones that cause common colds infect us multiple times in our lives.”
The several hundred cases of reinfection in Israel show that reinfection is possible, and the issue of new variants adds another level of complexity. But the fact that in Israel reinfection is low – while in Brazil, where a variant developed, many contracted the virus twice – seems to show that as far as the original strain of the virus is concerned, recovery does offer a high level of protection, Cohen said.
“The vaccine is able to generate similar antibodies and T-cells, so if I were to bet, I would say it is going to offer some protection for at least eight months, perhaps even more: for a year,” he said.
“What we know about vaccines, for example the one for the flu, which is based on a different technology, is that they offer protection for about six or 12 months,” Cohen explained. “That is why at this point, our green passport expires in six months.”
Another reason to be optimistic according to the immunologist is that no one who participated in the Pfizer clinical trial last summer appears to have been reinfected.
“So far we have not heard about it. Even though we do not have the data yet, it seems that they are still protected,” said Cohen.
“The big question remains... variants. And here we really do not know what will happen,” he said. “A likely scenario is that we will see partial immunity to certain variants, and that will have an impact on the need to be vaccinated again – not necessarily because of the length of the protection but rather because of the nature of the infection.”
Sexual abuse occurs in every sector of society; it is not a problem belonging to any one community. This is becoming increasingly obvious with the high-profile cases in Israel which include actor Moshe Ivgy, who was recently convicted of sexual misconduct with young, aspiring actresses; the conviction of former president Moshe Katsav; the conviction of Motti Elon, who was well known in the national religious yeshiva world; and the deportation to Australia of former haredi school principal Malka Leifer for alleged abuse.
The allegations published last week in Haaretz against ZAKA founder Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, who was meant to receive the Israel Prize this Independence Day in Jerusalem, is the latest in a string of similar cases.
It must be stressed that Meshi-Zahav, like any other citizen, is innocent until proven guilty but his case puts the spotlight on a phenomenon. Sexual abuse by people in positions of power and authority, often much older, is abhorrent wherever it is found. The problems, however, are compounded in both haredi (ultra-Orthodox) and extremely conservative Arab communities.
One of the biggest problems is that, without having been taught the correct terms for body parts and with no awareness of sexuality, it can be years before victims have the words to file a complaint – or even be fully aware that what happened to them was a form of abuse.
In addition, there is a terrible fear of the stigma attached. Oftentimes, victims do not see themselves as victims but somehow as partners in the crimes and sins committed against them. It should be noted that in the case of male victims, the problems are often magnified by the fear of the double stigma.
In haredi circles, there is also often a concern that if it becomes known that someone was a victim of sexual abuse, it will ruin their family’s good name and its standing within the community.
In Arab communities, the victim might also be threatened for having brought dishonor to the family and potentially become a victim of an “honor killing.”
There is also a tendency within the haredi world to try to do everything not to wash dirty laundry in public, and in some communities a determination not to cooperate with state authorities such as the police and courts. Hence, instead of police investigations and criminal proceedings, matters are sometimes “solved” internally, through rabbinical courts.
This can result in known perpetrators being moved from one city or country to another with no supervision or warning in an effort to hush incidents. Of course, instead of solving the problem and providing justice, this actually facilitates further attacks. Leifer is not the only alleged sex offender who moved to Israel to seek refuge when allegations of sexual abuse were uncovered in their hometowns.
Elon, who was convicted of indecent assault in 2013, continued to serve the public, going as far as opening a new yeshiva in Jerusalem in 2017. Finally, just this month, he relinquished his rabbinical certificate, officially barring himself from any formal Jewish leadership role.
Those who deal with the victims (and perpetrators) need to be certified therapists and not rabbis with no formal training in the field who can actually exacerbate the psychological repercussions. There is not enough awareness that incidents of sexual abuse in childhood do not end there, but haunt the victims for the rest of their lives.
There needs to be more help for the victims and for organizations which support and accompany them through the difficult process of filing a police complaint and going to court; the courts must take cases seriously and hand out significant sentences that can act as a deterrent. There should be more education within all communities, from a young age, regarding what is appropriate behavior and what is not, to help prevent children falling prey to such abuse.
Perhaps, most importantly, the people who come forward after the publications of allegations and say “we knew all along,” should do some serious soul-searching. If you know about a crime and do not act, that cannot be tolerated.
People need to speak out; there is no excuse to remain silent. It is the victims who need protection, not their abusers.