A battle against a pandemic, which happens only once a century, is always political and channeled by power struggles between the representatives of various sectors, interests, and social forces. There is nothing new in this and it can be seen in every nation on earth. But in Israel, there is growing concern that politics is causing paralysis and serious -- possibly fatal – harm to the battle against coronavirus.
This is why even the decision to made due with a nighttime curfew in cities and towns designated "red" under the traffic light system, rather than the full lockdown in these areas that coronavirus coordinator Professor Ronni Gamzu was demanding, wasn't made in time. Senior doctors are warning that Israel is heading toward a "public health Yom Kippur crisis," in which public health care officials are aware of the serious warnings but the government cannot make a fateful decision after a period of complacency, and merely treads water as the spread of the virus spikes.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Israel is now considered one of the places where the virus is spreading the quickest, and the number of dead is also expected to rise. It has already passed 1,000, with July and August seeing the highest death toll since the start of the epidemic here.
The number of patients in serious condition and on ventilators is also rising slowly but steadily. The sharp rise in infection is seen more in Arab and Haredi towns that are designed red, but there are also new cases in hundreds of other cities, towns, and local authorities in Israel, even ones that are listed "green."
There is no doubt that Israel is in the midst of a public health emergency and that coronavirus is pummeling us nonstop, with the number of new cases only growing. It appears that all of the steps Gamzu has taken haven't done anything to reduce the spread. We can look back on what remains of Gamzu's bombastic statements from when he was appointed in July: "The new contract is one of government transparency and civil obedience, and I will not allow unreasonable restrictions," or "The IDF can set up a system to cut off outbreaks within two weeks, and we will see the effects in three to four weeks."
And if we are mentioning the terrible military failure of the Yom Kippur War, we can liken it to the impression that Health Minister Yuli Edelstein and Health Ministry Director-General Professor Hezi Levy are creating, intentionally or unintentionally – that coronavirus is almost behind us.
Even Gamzu has made some mistakes. One was when he chose not to treat the "cult of coronavirus denial" seriously, or criticize offensive remarks by senior doctors about the country's battle against the virus, even when some of them work at the government-run Sourasky Medical Center, of which Gamzu is the director.
Last week, a political battle about locking down "red" cities and towns played out. Time passed, and the decision to instate only a nighttime curfew could lead us into a situation in which the entire country will have to mark the upcoming High Holidays under severe restrictions after it finally becomes clear to everyone, at the very last minute, that without a lockdown we could wind up facing a catastrophe similar to the first wave of the virus in New York, Spain, and Italy.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
