Israel is heading to coronavirus lockdown amid confusion, debate

The lockdown is expected to start at 2 p.m. Friday. The Knesset will vote on the plan Thursday evening.

By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
AHEAD OF a second nationwide lockdown, a NIS 1 billion aid plan is meant to encourage employers, reeling from losses and uncertainty, to hold on to their workers with the government shouldering a portion of their wages. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
AHEAD OF a second nationwide lockdown, a NIS 1 billion aid plan is meant to encourage employers, reeling from losses and uncertainty, to hold on to their workers with the government shouldering a portion of their wages.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
The country will enter a lockdown on Friday, which is expected to cost the country around NIS 35 billion, according to the Finance Ministry. The closure is expected to begin at 2 p.m. and last through the end of Simchat Torah, if not longer.
The lockdown comes on top of an unprecedented level of sick patients: Israel recorded 6,883 new cases in Israel since midnight, the Health Ministry reported Thursday – the second day in a row to reach such a high figure. Some 12.9% of those tested received a positive result, up from 11.7% on Tuesday.
The death toll stands at 1,376, which includes an increase of 41 dead in the past 24 hours. Some 685 people are in serious condition, including 175 on ventilators
The NIS 35 billion price tag does not include the total negative impact on the economy, such as the amount of financial aid that the government will need to transfer to businesses and unemployed people by the time the closure is lifted in two to three weeks.
Already, according to Employment Services, there are more than 850,000 Israelis out of work.
In terms of the impact on the private sector, this lockdown is more severe than the one in the spring, in that then the private sector could operate at 15% capacity and now the government has passed closing it down completely - except for essential workers.
Who qualifies as an essential worker was expected to be defined late Thursday.
“We had agreed that the private sector was not supposed to close,” said Finance Minister Israel Katz. He called the decision to close the private sector “unprecedented - no country has decided on such measures.”
Minister Itzik Shmuli, Orit Farkash Hacohen and Izhar Shay also opposed the plan to completely lockdown. On Thursday, Shay even threatened to quit the government because he felt that the government made a decision contrary to many health professionals, who said that such a lockdown was not necessary.
In other ways, this closure is more flexible. During the first lockdown, the public could only venture between 100 and 500 meters from their homes. Now, there is no limit on travel for food or other essential needs nor for exercise - so long as it is being performed alone or with one’s family.
Regarding the airport: The details of the plan have still not been finalized. On Thursday, a special team of representatives from the Foreign Affairs and Transportation ministries were meeting to come up with a plan.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev reportedly proposed an outline that would keep Ben-Gurion Airport open for the coming week to allow those who have already booked flights to travel. Then, the next week, flights would be limited to cargo and inbound flights.
The plan is being debated by the Knesset on Thursday, in hopes of passing a final set of recommendations before the closure is supposed to start on Friday.
Many ministers and MKs are against the lockdown or its specific restrictions, such as Education Minister Yoav Gallant, who expressed criticism over the efforts by Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit to allow protests to take place during the lockdown, while Israel's students are being forced to stay at home.
"This is how an upside-down world looks: 2.5 million students in Israel are forced to stay at home because of the pandemic, the attorney general caves in to pressure by Blue and White and approves mass protests of 2,000 people - as if there's no coronavirus. It's upsetting and concerning," Gallant wrote on Twitter.
At the same time, MK Ayelet Shaked went as far as saying on Thursday that she is trying to mobilize the members of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee to vote against the move.
"The goal is to get the majority of the committee to vote against the decision," she said. "The state cannot close."
The Knesset is expected to vote late Thursday and then the Prime Minister’s Office and Health Ministry will release a final set of restrictions.
Tobias Siegal contributed to this report.