Activists hold memorial for over 2,000 dead due to COVID-19 in Israel

The news had been looming over Israelis in past days, many of whom had been expecting the country's death toll reach the 2,000 figure by tonight.

By IDAN ZONSHINE
Activists from the moderate Darkenu movement had gathered to light 2,000 candles, one for every victim of the coronavirus pandemic in Israel. 12.10.2020 (photo credit: DARKENU)
Activists from the moderate Darkenu movement had gathered to light 2,000 candles, one for every victim of the coronavirus pandemic in Israel. 12.10.2020
(photo credit: DARKENU)
Israel's Health Ministry announced on Monday evening that the death toll from COVID-19 had risen to 2,016.
The news had been looming over Israelis in past days, many of whom had been expecting the country's death toll reach 2,000 by Monday night.
At the exact same time that the Health Ministry published the announcement, activists from the Darkenu movement had gathered to light 2,000 candles, one for every victim, around Paris Square, which sits outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem. 
Yaya Fink, CEO of Darkenu, said in a statement that "the failure to manage the war against COVID-19 needs to be investigated. The 2,000 victims of the coronavirus, one million unemployed and a serious failure to make proper and sensible decisions, are a just cause to establish of a state commission of inquiry now."
"Any attempt to extinguish the protest will only increase it in terms of 'the more they torture us, the more we shall prevail and prosper,'" Fink added, quoting a proverb from Deuteronomy.