Public health head to run in 2021 election, joins Ya'alon

Telem said that Levine will play a key role in helping to bring "security and hope to Israel" again.

By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN, JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Chairman of the Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians Prof. Hagai Levine (photo credit: KNESSET SPOKESPERSON'S OFFICE/SHMULIK GROSSMAN)
Chairman of the Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians Prof. Hagai Levine
(photo credit: KNESSET SPOKESPERSON'S OFFICE/SHMULIK GROSSMAN)
Prof. Hagai Levine, who stepped down Saturday night from his position as chairman of the Association of Public Health Physicians, announced Sunday that he would be joining the Telem Party run by MK Moshe Ya'alon.
"Prof. Levine... maintained a professional backbone in the face of the amateurish management of the coronavirus crisis," a statement by the party said Sunday. "Levine is a pioneer in modern community medicine and a great fighter for the quality of life and the environment."
The party said that Levine will play a key role in helping to bring "security and hope to Israel" again.
In a letter addressed to Health Ministry Director-General Chezy Levy, coronavirus commissioner Prof. Nachman Ash and Prof. Ran Balicer, chairman of the National Expert Advisory Panel to the Government on COVID-19, Levine explained that his decision was reached after realizing that Israel's leadership is lacking and so is the handling of the pandemic.
"In light of the utter failure in the decision-making process by the political echelon, while breaching public trust, I became convinced that we need doctors and scientists to have the courage to integrate into the national leadership in order to establish decision-making as a process based on professional considerations," Levine's letter read.
The association expressed deep gratitude to Levine for his work during the challenging coronavirus pandemic and wished him luck.
On Sunday morning, the association unanimously approved that board member Prof. Nadav Davidovitch will fill the role of interim chairman.
Davidovitch has previously acted as association chairman, and will now serve until the association's annual general meeting.