Senior Israeli diplomats have warned in recent days that Israel is expected to incur damages on the economic, tourism and diplomatic fronts, perhaps even on the security front, due to the strict policies imposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yakov Litzman to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
On Thursday, Italy joined the chorus of countries that have expressed anger over Israel's decision to ban entry to their citizens. The director-general of the Italian foreign ministry spoke with Israel's Ambassador to Italy, Dror Eydar, to voice her objections over the Israeli decision and demand an explanation.
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China, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Japan have also criticized Israel over the decision.
Israeli ambassadors in these countries have been summoned to clarify the decision, but senior officials familiar with the details told Israel Hayom that their explanations weren't likely to suffice.
According to the Israeli officials, these countries, most of which are friendly to Israel, were offended by the essence of the decisions and also by the manner in which they were made public.
One Israeli diplomat said that in each case the decision to ban entry was made unilaterally by health ministry officials without informing the relevant countries. Another senior official said Israel is the only Western country to hermetically seal itself.
Yet another diplomatic source added: "At the moment everyone is focused on handling the crisis, but in a few months we will feel the consequences. The countries which we have currently cut off will be the first to advise their citizens not to visit the moment there's a security escalation. No other country has stopped tourists, already mid-flight, from entering their territory, as Israel has done. On the other hand, the country hasn't expelled tourists who are already here. These are countries we want to have relations with, and the measures Israel has implemented will have a price."
Israeli health officials, meanwhile, believe the next outbreak of the coronavirus will occur in Western Europe, specifically countries that share a border with Italy, such as Switzerland, Austria and France. Officials also believe that Germany is susceptible to an outbreak.
