How is Israel Dealing With Coronavirus?

All you need to know about how Israel is responding to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, including what limitations have been put in place regarding public transportation, self-isolation, and how Israel is fighting the spread of COVID-19.

With the coronavirus situation changing from minute to minute, this article is being continuously updated. You can find plenty of information here, including:

• The latest statistics on number of confirmed cases and deaths from the virus;
• A fully up-to-date list of the most important restrictions imposed by the Israeli government;
• A timeline of Israel’s steps in the face of the pandemic;
• The history and development of Israeli policy as the disease spread;
• Claims made against Israel regarding its treatment of the Palestinians, and the facts.

The Latest Coronavirus Statistics in Israel

The latest stats released show that Israel has now seen over 100 coronavirus-related deaths. pic.twitter.com/KOfp8UdtSG

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) April 12, 2020

At A Glance: Israel’s Most Recent Coronavirus Restrictions

The Jewish festival of Passover is normally a time for families to gather and eat together, with the vast majority of Jewish Israelis holding a Seder. With the temptation to travel and be with extended family so great, the Israeli government enacted a series of moves ahead of the festival in the hopes of prevent a swell in the rate of coronavirus infection in Israel.

Beginning on April 1, the government intensified precautionary restrictions. From that point on, all public gatherings, including prayer quorums of 10 men as necessitated in Jewish law, have been prohibited. Only two people from the same household may leave home together, and wearing face masks in public at all times is now mandatory. Prime Minister Netanyahu also announced Passover grants to families of 500 shekels per child for the first four children under the age of 18. A similar grant has been promised to senior citizens and disabled people.

These moves were followed by a three-day national lockdown commencing 24 hours before the start of Passover, with police and army units stationed at major junctions at the entrances to cities to process vehicles one-by-one. All travel between cities was prohibited over the period, and starting from four hours before the commencement of the festival until 7 a.m. the following morning, all citizens were prohibited from venturing more than 100 m (330 ft) from their home.

The lockdown prevented Israelis from crossing municipal lines, but allowed most to make Passover purchases ahead of the festival. The decision was made after lawmakers had deliberated cordoning off the majority ultra-orthodox city of Bnei Brak, and after being met with a backlash from ultra-orthodox politicians, chose to extend the closure to the entire country in a bid to avoid stigmatizing any particular sector.

That closure was augmented by another move – the splitting of Jerusalem into numerous zones, with residents instructed to remain within their own zone. The nationwide and municipal closures largely prevented extended families from gathering for the Passover Seder, on the first evening of the festival.

As of April 11, public transportation has been reduced by 75 percent. Taxis are still available, but only one passenger is allowed in each cab, and on the condition that they sit in the back with the windows open. Restaurants, which have already been told to shut down their seating areas, have now been instructed to operate as delivery-only businesses, and halt take-away services.  All “non-essential” stores have been instructed to close. Stores staying open are to ensure a two meter distance between all people, customers and staff alike, and a maximum of four customers are allowed to line up at each cash register. Stores continuing to operate delivery services, including of online goods, must have all packages deposited outside the recipient’s door. All business owners are obligated to check their employees’ temperature, and that of anyone entering their premises. Anyone registering a temperature above 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), must be sent away immediately.

• Individuals are restricted to walking no more than 100 meters from their homes for a “brief period”, except to do the following:
• Purchasing food, medicine, or other essential items, or to receive “essential services;”
• Medical care;
• Donate blood;
• Attending political demonstrations;
• Receiving social care;
• Attend court proceedings;
• Going to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset;
• Assisting people needing support or with medical issues, such as the elderly and the infirm;
• Attending religious services in an outdoor area with a limit of ten people, all of whom must keep themselves two meters apart. Such services include weddings, circumcisions, funerals and daily prayers;
• Transferring children between parents who do not live together

The government has also started the process of imposing financial penalties, with individuals violating these rules at risk of being fined 500 NIS ($136), or jailed for a six month term.

Timeline of Significant Events

December 2019: First cases identified in Wuhan, China
February 21, 2020: The first case of COVID-19 in Israel. An Israeli citizen is identified after being quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
February 22:  Government institutes 14-day home isolation rule was instituted for anyone who visited South Korea or Japan
February 22: 200 Israeli students quarantined after being exposed to a group of South Korean tourists
March 2: Election Day. Separate booths are made available for those in self-isolation
March 9: Mandatory two-week quarantine announced for citizens of all countries
March 12: Over 100 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Israel. The WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic. School cancelled till Passover at earliest.
March 14: PM Netanayahu announces a ‘new way of life’, and shuts down restaurants, malls, museums and more, and the controversial introduction of digital tracking measures.
March 16: Thousands of public sector employees told to work from home or placed on paid leave. Private businesses instructed to send workers home.
March 17: Public transportation ceases at 10pm. Thereafter to operate between 8am-8pm, and cease totally over weekends.
March 19: Netanyahu declares state of emergency. All existing restrictions now legally enforceable.
March 21: Israel’s first coronavirus fatality: 88 year-old Jerusalemite Arieh Even.
March 22: 1,000 Israelis confirmed as infected with COVID-19
March 23: Unemployment in Israel passes 17%
March 25:  People instructed to stay within 100 meters of home.

How Coronavirus Reached Israel, and How Israel Reacted

Since the first identified outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, COVID-19 spread quickly across the world, and within three months, it reached Israel. While some countries, such as Italy and Iran, have been particularly badly hit, Israel’s severe response to the outbreak has seen it suffer a relatively low number of confirmed cases of infection.

Predictably, antisemites have been swift to use the phenomenon to attack Israel. After Bethlehem was affected by multiple instances of coronavirus infection, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett ordered both the IDF and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) to impose a closure on the city until further notice, in a step he said was coordinated with the Palestinian Authority.

Related Reading: Reuters: Gaza, Coronavirus and Dishonesty

The move was met with cynicism, with some suggesting that the authorities were taking stricter measures in the West Bank than inside Israel. At the same time, others used the burgeoning pandemic as an excuse to spread classic antisemitism, in the form of conspiracy theories that Jews created the virus, and a Lebanese-American university professor claiming that Israel would place non-Jewish coronavirus patients in ‘mass prisons’.

So what’s really happening?

How is Israel really dealing with coronavirus? How did it originate? And what measures is Israel taking vis-a-vis the Palestinians?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KoEYjo84t0

How Coronavirus Spread to Israel

The first case of COVID-19 in Israel was confirmed on February 21, 2020 after a female citizen who returned home from Japan after being quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship tested positive at the Sheba Medical Center.

Immediately, Israeli officials understood that the pandemic would spread to Israel and clear measures were swiftly taken to prevent the virus’s spread. The day after that first case, a 14-day home isolation rule was instituted for anyone who visited South Korea or Japan, and a ban was placed on non-residents and citizens who were in South Korea for 14 days before their arrival.

The day after that, on February 22, 2020, a second former Diamond Princess passenger tested positive and was admitted to a hospital for isolation, and Israel started imposing its first large-scale self-isolation measures. Two hundred Israeli students were quarantined after being exposed to a large group of South Korean religious tourists, some of whom tested positive for coronavirus upon returning to their home country. A further 1,400 Israelis were quarantined after returning from abroad.

With the pandemic still in its early stages, Israel was faced with a challenge that no other country had so far faced: national elections while dealing with coronavirus. By March 2, election day, in excess of 5,000 Israelis were in self-isolation. In order to allow them to vote, multiple secluded voting booths were established.

The Beginnings of the Coronavirus Lockdown in Israel

On 9 March, the situation was sufficiently severe for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declare a mandatory quarantine for all people entering Israel, requiring all entrants to quarantine themselves for two full weeks upon entering the country. Foreign citizens were instructed to prove accommodation arrangements for the duration of their quarantine period.

Over the next few days, it became clear that the situation could not be easily contained. By March 12, over 100 confirmed cases of coronavirus had been recorded in Israel, and the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, after almost 120,000 cases of the coronavirus illness were found in over 110 countries around the world.

In response to the virus’s spread, Israel announced that all universities and schools would close until after the Passover (spring) break, and all organized sports activities would be deferred indefinitely.  At the same time, many Israeli bus drivers started closing the front doors to buses, allowing passengers to exit and enter from the rear doors only, and alcoholic gel began appearing in shopping malls around the country, often at the entrances to elevators and fitting rooms in clothes stores.

Israel’s Health Ministry also banned the country’s religious burial society, the hevra kadisha, from carrying out the tahara purification rite, which includes the cleaning of the bodies of the deceased and dressing them up in burial shrouds, on those killed by the virus for fear of spreading the pandemic further. Four special units have been established to deal with the interment of victims of the virus, with volunteers carrying out the traditional Jewish funeral procedures while wearing full protective gear. Instructions issued later stipulated that while victims may be buried in regular cemeteries, they must be wrapped in plastic ahead of burial in order to prevent spreading the disease. Similarly, although the families and loved ones of the deceased do not need to keep their distance, touching bodies is strictly forbidden.

As the active COVID case count passed the 150-mark on Saturday, 14 March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the public. He announced new regulations and stating the need to “adopt a new way of life”. The Health Ministry posted new regulations, effective from the following day.

The measures included banning gatherings of more than ten people and closure of all educational institutions, among them daycare centers, special education, youth movements and after-school programs. The list of venues required to close included malls, restaurants, hotel dining rooms, pubs, dance clubs, gyms, pools, beaches, water and amusement parks, zoos and petting zoos, bathhouses and ritual baths for men, beauty and massage salons, event and conference venues, public boats and cable cars, and heritage sites. Take-away restaurants, supermarkets and pharmacies were to remain open.

‘Emergency’ Cyber Measures to Track Coronavirus

Notably, Netanyahu added that digital monitoring measures would be used to track the movements of individuals confirmed as having been infected with coronavirus. Netanyahu explained that the monitoring would enable the authorities to locate each individual’s precise movements in order to track their route and consequently alert other people whose paths they may have crossed about the need to put themselves in isolation in order to prevent the further spreading of the virus.

This move was met with a strong backlash, and was deemed by rights groups and political organizations as a worrying invasion of privacy precedent which could pave the way for the further use of such technology. Others took Netanyahu’s side, suggesting that the measure could prove critical in stemming the spread of the pandemic.

With the pandemic starting to have a significant impact on day-to-day life, and as a result of the new restrictions on public gatherings, on 15 March, the corruption trial of Netanyahu was delayed. The same day, the Islamic Waqf responsible for the administration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem took the decision to close both sites to prevent contamination.

Avoiding a Full ‘Closure’, the Economy Shrinks

On Monday, 16 March, as the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus climbed to 298, rumors swept Israel of an impending full closure of the country, in a manner akin to the policy adopted by Italy. That night, Netanyahu announced further measures. Speaking on live television, Netanyahu reassured the public that no full closure was planned at present, despite pressure from the Health Ministry to enact such a policy. Instead, localized closures would be enforced where outbreaks of coronavirus were identified, and employees were instructed to keep a distance of two meters between one another.

Netanyahu further declared severe restrictions on the public sector, enacting an emergency framework and placing all non-critical government and local authority workers on paid leave until the end of Passover. In order to balance the continued operation of the private sector while preventing the spread of the virus, private businesses were ordered to reduce their in-office workforce by 70%, with the option of staggering work hours so that more employees can continue to come to work. These restrictions do not apply to businesses with 10 workers or fewer, provided that they observe the two-meter rule.

Israel’s finance minister Moshe Kahlon added that small business would be allowed to postpone payment of standard bills, and made available subsides of up to NIS 6,000 ($1,600) to help freelancers and small businesses stay afloat.

A Critical Period

In the coming days, health ministry officials went on record to state that the upcoming week would be critical in stemming the spread of the virus. The more severe the restrictions imposed, they claimed, the quicker Israel would be able to rid itself of the threat. Accordingly, Israel’s Transportation Ministry announced reduced public transportation, with a total cessation of  operations overnight. After ceasing at 10 p.m. on March 17, public transport resumed at 8am the following day. Thereafter, public transport stopped at 8 p.m. each evening, with no operations on weekends. As a result, under the conditions announced, all buses, trains and trams will stop running at 8 p.m. Thursday before recommencing at 8am Sunday morning.

Citizens were also warned that their behavior in the face of the virus was at times highly irresponsible. Officials arrested a small number of individuals for violating the terms of their self-isolation, and for arranging events with over ten people present. In one case, three were held by police in Beit Shemesh after holding a wedding attended by over 150 people. Ultra-orthodox schools, initially granted a degree of leeway of the rest of the education system had been totally closed, were fully shut down on March 18 after the discovery of multiple schools flouting the regulations, with over 200 people removed from one such school in Tel Aviv.

In response to worsening conditions, Netanyahu warned the public that while there have been no deaths in Israel so far, it would likely be only a matter of time. For its part, the health ministry instructed the pubic not to go out for any leisure purposes, including to the beach, swimming pools, parks, museums, playgrounds, or other public places. Citizens were also called upon to limit their time outside to ten minutes at a time. Israel’s channel 12 news described the raft of regulations as a move to  a “voluntary lockdown.”

Not longer after, the Population and Immigration Authority announced the total closure of Israel’s borders to foreigners. For the previous nine days, Israel had allowed tourists into the country so long as they could prove the ability to quarantine themselves for two weeks.

Netanyahu also told the public that Israel would initially increase testing to 3,000 tests each day, with a view to handling up to 5,000 tests per day, and Israel’s hospitals ordered an extra 1,000 respirator units ahead of an expected wave of patients.

Left With No Choice – Lockdown

After days of attempting to avoid a full closure of the country, on March 18, Israel’s army radio reported that Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan allegedly told representatives of the police and other security agencies that “We need to prepare for the possibility of a full shutdown, this is an inevitable decision.” Such was the severity on the situation that Israel’s Sephardic chief rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, issued an order that people should keep their phones on over the Sabbath so that they could receive messages and calls about coronavirus test results and instructions about entering quarantine. Orthodox Jews are forbidden under religious law from using electronic devices from Friday evening through Saturday evening, with an exemption made for life-or-death situations.

The following day, March 19, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared a national state of emergency. From that point on, all existing restrictions were henceforth be legally enforceable, and violators were liable to  be fined. Under these terms, while essential services and supermarkets remained open, almost everything else closed down entirely, and Israelis were instructed not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.

With the infection toll rising to over 600 people by the next day, the decision was made to shutter Israel’s marketplaces in a bid to reduce the density of shoppers congregating in a single place. Over the weekend, the number of Israelis infected soared to over 800, and the first Israeli citizen to die of the virus was announced: an 88-year old Jerusalem man, Arieh Even, who had survived the Holocaust. Even was buried in a funeral service with an attendance limited to 20 mourners. All those present were required to keep a two-meter distance between themselves. Israel’s guild of Hevra Kadisha, the voluntary-based religious burial society,

On Sunday morning, police units passed through two of Israel’s most famous markets, Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda and Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market, and instructed various food stalls to shut down. As the number of those infected crossed the 1,000 mark, the authorities moved to restrict the population to outdoors exercise in groups of no more than two people together, and allow only short walks near home. The number of people traveling by car was limited to two, with the exception of members of the same household.

By Monday, 23 March, a full month since the first steps enacted by the State of Israel against coronavirus came into force, the situation had worsened to the extent that local media reports spoke of the total shutdown public transportation. Updates in the Israeli media also indicated that almost all remaining stores would be closed with the exception of supermarkets and pharmacies.

The same day, revised figures showed that the unemployment rate in Israel had reached 17.6%. The emergency help hotline organization Eran announced that the number of calls it received each day had tripled since the outbreak of coronavirus outbreak. Many of the callers described anxiety over the expected duration of the pandemic, loneliness, and economic concerns. The organization also announced that it had launched a greatly improved Arabic-language service, running for eight hours daily.

The next day saw Israel’s second coronavirus fatality, as a 67 year-old woman with a pre-existing condition passed away. By this stage, over 1900 Israelis had been diagnosed as infected, and almost 500 new virus cases came to light in 24 hours, marking the largest single-day jump since the pandemic reached Israel. Despite the tumult, Aliyah remains an important part of Israel’s identity, and early that morning, mere hours before Ethiopia shut its land borders in a bid to arrest the virus’s spread, 72 Ethiopian immigrants arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport to start their lives anew in the Holy Land.

As of March 25, people were instructed to stay within 100 meters of home. All previous directives were no liable to be enforced by the police, with fines and a potential six-month prison sentence for offenders.

How is the IDF Dealing with Coronavirus?

Meanwhile, the IDF, keen to maintain an operational military force capable of defending Israel at all times. While the IDF has noted a reduction in terror activity as coronavirus affects the entire region, Israel’s defense apparatus has been hit in other, unexpected ways. Toward the beginning of March, the Israeli intelligence learned that as a result of the spread of coronavirus in Iran, the chances of learning the final resting place of MIA soldier Ron Arad were significantly reduced, following the death of the last known Iranian intelligence official connected with Arad’s disappearance.

In order to maintain a strong fighting force in case of emergency, defense minister Naftali Bennett signed an order authorizing the Israeli military to mobilize 2,000 reserve personnel for the Homefront Command as part of the fight against the coronavirus, although initially only 700 were called up. Days later, on March 17, Bennett approved a call-up of an additional 2,500 reservists, many of whom serve in the IDF Home Front Command, which works in co-operation with civilian government on disaster response.

Furthermore, the following measures have been taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus within the IDF:

• Direct all soldiers to maintain a distance of at least 2 meters from one another.
• Ban civilians from entering IDF bases unless in exceptional circumstances with explicit approval.
• Cancel all exercises with foreign militaries for the month of March.
• Direct all soldiers serving in closed bases, combat units, and training bases to remain on base for an extended period of up to one month in an attempt to keep them separate from the general population and reduce risk of infection.

Israel’s Treatment of the Palestinians

The IDF has also moved to limit the spread of coronavirus in neighboring countries and in the Palestinian territories. Initial steps included:

• Closing the Allenby Bridge border crossing (with Jordan) and Erez border crossing (with Gaza), except for emergencies
• Reacting quickly to an outbreak of coronavirus in Bethlehem by enforcing a closure there, except for emergencies.
• Conducting joint medical training sessions with the Palestinian Authority.
• Transferring test kits and disinfectant materials to the Palestinian Authority.

While the closure of Bethlehem garnered international attention, the media did not generally take the Palestinian line that Israel’s treatment of the West Bank population was necessarily harsher than its treatment of the Israeli population. With Bethlehem seeing a high incidence of confirmed Coronavirus cases, and Israel limited in terms of its ability to manage the zone due to its location in Area A (territory fully under Palestinian Authority civilian control), the decision to close the city was made in conjunction with the Palestinian leadership.

Defense Minister Bennett also issued instructions to ease access to Palestinians working in Israel. Initially, access to Israel for limited periods of up to one or two months, was granted to Palestinian workers working in “essential services,” such as medical professionals, construction workers, and farmers. Later, on March 18,  he announced that West Bank-based Palestinians “working in those sectors, such as health, agriculture and building, can reside in Israel”. The announcement affected more than 100,000 West Bank workers employed, the vast majority of whom usually go home each day.

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