The government is meeting Thursday morning to determine a new list of Hanukkah restrictions, after its attempt to enact a night curfew earlier in the week was shot down by the attorney-general.”We are trying as little as possible to harm the economy but we must prevent the spread of the disease,” Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said at the start of the meeting.Likewise, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned: “We can very quickly get to the point of a lockdown and we want to avoid that.”
On the table are shuttering stores early in the evening and asking people not to congregate in each other’s homes or at synagogue after around 5:30 p.m. – though an exact time is under discussion.
Finance Minister Israel Katz is expected to push for the time to be no earlier than 6:30 or 7:00 p.m.
Movement in general would not be restricted. Takeaway would also still be available. It is unlikely that these restrictions would apply to Eilat or the Dead Sea resort area, both part of the “green island” program.
“This partial closure is meant to prevent as much mobility and gathering as possible,” said Health Minister director-general Chezy Levy in an interview with Kan News on Thursday morning.
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In contrast, the Association of Public Health Professionals said Thursday morning in a statement that a night closure or the imposition of any “sweeping and disproportionate decrees on the public, undermine public trust and the ability to handle the coronavirus.”
The association said that “the new proposal that emerged at the last minute before Hanukkah is in fact ‘the same lady in a new coat’ and is therefore unjustified and offensive.”
סגר לילי רוחבי וגזירות גורפות על הציבור פוגעות באמון הציבור ובהתמודדות עם מגיפת הקורונה
ההצעה החדשה המסתמנת ברגע האחרון לפני חנוכה היא למעשה “אותה גברת בשינוי אדרת” ולכן אינה מוצדקת ופוגענית
העמדה המקצועית לא השתנתה: אסור להטיל מגבלות שרירותיות לא צודקות ולא מוצדקות— פרופ’ חגי לוין (@LevineHagai) December 10, 2020
It is understood that the restrictions will only apply to Jewish neighborhoods and that a set of similar restrictions will be placed on Arab municipalities during the Christian holidays. Blue and White ministers responded to the idea of having restrictions on Jewish areas when the largest amount of infection is on Arab communities by calling the move “illogical.” The fine for breaking the restrictions is likely going to be NIS 500. Originally, some members of the government wanted to push to have the new restrictions start Thursday evening, but that option was relatively quickly removed from the table. “You cannot just surprise the public and start Hanukkah restrictions today,” Higher Education Minister Zeev Elkin pressed. The prime minister said he agreed.
In an interview Thursday morning with Army Radio, Science and Technology Minister Yizhar Shay said that he would oppose the current proposal, as the original intention was to make these rules for orange and red cities and not cities across the country.
“It does not make sense to close people in green localities,” he stressed. “Logic needs to be found.”
He said with four months until the masses are vaccinated, it does not make sense to close the economy now.
Recall that thousands of Pfizer vaccines arrived in Israel yesterday and more are expected this week and before the end of the month. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that people would begin being vaccinated on December 27.
The meeting is taking place against the backdrop of rising infection – 1,828 new cases in the last day, 2.6% of those screened for the virus (3% without survey tests).
There are 318 people in serious condition, including 100 on ventilators. The death toll stands at 2,934.
At the meeting, the government is also supposed to discuss setting indices for which the country will move toward tighter restrictions or even a full closure. The Health Ministry and the National Security Council recommended tightening restrictions when infection holds at around 2,000 new cases per day and the reproduction rate (R) stands at around 1.3 and lockdown at 3,500 new cases per day and an R of 1.4.The government voted in favor of two additional regulations brought before the ministers Thursday morning: allowing the cabinet to decide on how to handle returnees from abroad and to decide the functioning of the education system.The government also voted in favor of allowing youth group activities to resume according to new Health Ministry guidelines.
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