PM calls on Israelis aged 50 and over to get vaccinated to ease Israel’s stubborn morbidity rate. Health Ministry officials warns without tightened lockdown, Israel could see thousands more become seriously ill and die.
As the worst crisis Israel has ever seen drags on and the COVID death toll passes 5,000, politicians should stop thinking about the election and start thinking about the people.
With the addition of representatives of multiple sectors into the Likud's Knesset list and the alliance between radical Otzma Yehudit and Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party, Netanyahu hopes to extract every single right-wing vote possible on Election Day.
The lists are in, and now voters have to decide for whom to cast ballots on March 23.
Starting at 7 a.m. Sunday, restrictions on movement will be lifted and one-on-one services such as hair salons will be allowed to reopen. Cabinet to decide on schools in phone vote next week.
The Health Ministry has decided to expand the nationwide vaccination campaign and allow every Israeli over the age of 16 to get inoculated as a result of the drastic drop in the vaccination rate in recent days.
Having realized his divisive rhetoric is pushing away voters and an end to the pandemic won’t be coming anytime soon, Netanyahu is shifting gears in his campaign.
The Religious Zionist and Otzma Yehudit parties call on the moderate Habayit Hayehudi to join them ahead of presenting the final slate to the Central Election Committee. The merger will "maximize the chance that a right-wing government will be formed," party leaders say.
Most of the small and sectorial parties are not expected to cross the four-seat electoral threshold. Hawkish national-religious parties may find themselves out of parliament, and most political newcomers cannot seem to gain momentum.
Meanwhile, ahead of a cabinet meeting to discuss another lockdown extension, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the economy will gradually begin reopening next week but in a "cautious" manner.
