According to the most recent government projections, we are facing multiple potential scenarios with respect to the future impact the coronavirus crisis will have on Israel, on all levels.
Israeli society and especially the Israeli government cannot afford to make light of these projections, and we must all prepare for them meticulously, especially with respect to resource appropriation and management, legislation that must address every aspect of the situation, and in terms of public information campaigns offering the relevant fact and solutions in real-time.
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Israelis have gotten used to the "fly by the seat of your pants" system of doing things, based on ad-hoc solutions the majority of which stem from political considerations. These solutions all rely on the defense establishment, predominately the military, as the go-to problem-solver.
But sadly, that is not the case.
The coronavirus crisis has forced decision-makers to realize that the military cannot solve every problem and that extemporary solutions are ineffective. There is nothing that can replace organized and thorough preparatory work that follows a clear hierarchy. There is no excuse for a trial and error system that, at the end of the day, costs lives, for the sake of "drawing conclusions."
A painful example of this is the nursing home crisis triggered by the coronavirus outbreak. The lack of clear policy on testing and quarantine in nursing homes during the corona crisis – or what is currently believed to be the first wave of the pandemic – has resulted in the death of dozens of elderly patients. In fact, the majority of corona fatalities in Israel are ages 65 and over.
The systemic failure in dealing with the risk faced by nursing homes is an instructive example of how the situation has been mishandled. This underscores the need for a national emergency authority, but one that must be independent – not subjected to the Defense Ministry or the Home Front Command, and certainly not one that prepares only for contingencies involving military threats to civil society.
Not one bullet was fired during the corona crisis and the body that was supposed to handle such an outbreak should be different. A national emergency authority should comprise emergency management professionals – not military officers and it most certainly should not be headed by the prime minister.
The fact that the crisis in Israeli nursing homes was not addressed at all during the first 55 days of the outbreak does not stem from the failure to implement the ideal model of dealing with an outbreak, but there is no question that had the proper response model would have been applied to the threat posed by the contagion, we would be looking at completely different results – ones that have exacted a heavy price from our parents and grandparents, who are, after all, our founding generation.
The nursing home crisis reflects a chaotic decision-making process that was largely detached from reality. It should stand as a cautionary tale for crisis and emergency management, especially since it is highly likely this will not be the last crisis Israel faces.
Faced with a myriad of crisis scenarios stemming from threats such as cyberattacks, terrorism, earthquakes, epidemics, etc. panels must be formed to bring together the relevant professionals who must then outline the proper response across the board. Each such forum should include the relevant ministries and administrations, as well as any other relevant entity that could be called upon to handle a developing event.
A forum of this nature dedicated to the coronavirus, for example, should have included the Health and Finance ministries, alongside the Shin Bet security service, the Mossad intelligence agency, emergency and recovery organizations such as Magen David Adom and Zaka, and the Israel Police.
Professional emergency response teams must be headed by the relevant professionals – not military officials who happen to specialize in emergency or disaster situations. The professionals heading these forums will devise the necessary course of action and potential solutions and present them to the government.
Consider the nursing home crisis: none of the professional discussions held by the various ministries included the head of the Israeli Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Association, nor was the Health Ministry's own Department of Geriatrics represented during these discussions. Neither were municipal officials or welfare professionals, who are key to the fair and proper representation of Israel's 1,350,000-strong elderly community.
The elderly – arguable the most vulnerable sector during the coronavirus outbreak – were not represented in government discussions. It took 55 days for the powers that be to address the nursing home crisis, but only 7% of elderly Israelis reside in nursing homes. What about the other 93%?
It is precisely this faulty decision-making process and lack of representation that marginalized the issue and resulted in the dramatic corona fatality rates among elderly Israelis.
"Do not discard me in my old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails" (Psalm 71:9) cannot be treated as yet another overused phrase. It is a decree by which we must live and in this case, it is a decree that demands we properly address crises such as these. The type of systemic failures we have witnessed with respect to Israel's elderly during the coronavirus crisis cannot be tolerated.
