Lawmakers and shopping mall directors expressed opposition Tuesday after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz decided to apply the "Green Pass" vaccine certificate regulations to Israel's shopping malls

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According to the outline – to be approved by the cabinet and the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee – the guidelines will apply to all indoor complexes larger than 10,000 square meters (108,000 square feet), with digital certificates to be scanned by security personal at the entrance. Every vaccinated patron will receive a bracelet that will allow him or her to move around the mall freely. 

Unvaccinated Israelis will only be allowed to enter "essential" shops, with a list to be formulated by the government's legal advisors. Unvaccinated individuals will not receive a bracelet. 

Yisrael Beytenu MK Eli Avidar criticized the move, calling it a "hasty step that has no epidemiological logic and [that] disregards reality."

"It is a blow to business owners and a blow to citizens. The democratic public is losing the little trust it has left and in the culprits who participate in this madness," he said. 

Uri Abel, CEO of the Seven Stars shopping mall in Herzliya, told Israel Hayom, "I consider this a bad decision that is difficult to implement and enforce. It will create lines at the entrance as well as hostility. This is the exact opposite of the experience we want to create in the mall … I understand the intention of health [behind the move], but instead of rewarding those who want to get vaccinated, the whole population is punished."

The management of the Dizengoff Center shopping mall in Tel Aviv said in a statement, "At this point, the decision is not applicable, effective or relevant to reality, but once we get the full details we will understand its requirements and examine whether it can be implemented. We will continue to keep the center a safe space for all while respecting the rights of the individual."

Bennett and Nitzan also decided that children and adults who have been vaccinated with the first dose will receive a temporary "green pass" that will be valid for 30 days from the date of the first vaccination.

The two also introduced new guidelines for Israelis returning from abroad. 

Starting Friday, vaccinated individuals who return from so-called "red" countries will be required to take a coronavirus test at Ben-Gurion International Airport, sign an agreement, and self-isolate for seven days at home, at the end of which they will be required to take another PCR test. They will be able to exit quarantine after receiving their negative test results. 

Unvaccinated Israelis will also have to perform a coronavirus test upon arrival, isolate in a state-run hotel until they receive their test results, and if negative, sign an agreement and continue self-isolating for the rest of the seven days at home. They too will be required to take another PCR test at the end of the self-isolation period. If negative, they will be able to exit quarantined. If the individual tests positive at Ben-Gurion Airport, he or she will be required to self-isolate for the entire seven days at the state-run hotel.

Bennett also instructed officials to re-examine the criteria for adding states onto the government's no-fly list in an effort to curb the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant in Israel.

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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on Wednesday that Israelis must heed the official guidelines in order to prevent a resurgence of coronavirus, triggering a blame game with Likud over the former government's handling of the pandemic.

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"The vaccines are doing a great job and without them, there would be a lot of cases of severe illness and deaths, but they are not enough in and of themselves against this strain," he said. "Masks are the most effective protection against this," he said.

Bennett lamented that "up until several weeks ago, Israelis could go to the reddest of countries," implicitly blaming the previous government for not taking swift action to prevent Israelis from visiting highly infected destinations, effectively making the Ben Gurion International Airport a virus hotspot and an entry point for the Delta variant, which he said "began to spread in Israel in late May."

Bennett warned that sooner or later the Delta variant will make virtually all countries would be added to the list of places that Israelis are discouraged from visiting and could be fined if they do so. "Don't buy airline tickets, they will be canceled anyway," he said.

The Likud hit back at the prime minister, issuing the following statement: "Bennett convened a press conference just so he could announce that he had no announcements to make, even as the coronavirus has been rearing its head under his watch. No false excuse can explain away his inaction that led to the virus' return to Israel, just after he was handed over a country from [former prime minister] Netanyahu that was in better shape than every other nation. Perhaps it would be best if he once again read the small booklet that he wrote about the virus when he called for the reopening of the economy at the height of the pandemic."

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