As the Jewish new year begins, with its many holidays, Israelis will be confined to a 500-meter radius around their homes, and a series of other stringent measures similar to those imposed in March at the height of the COVID-19 crisis are going into effect. The restrictions come amidst much dissatisfaction over the government’s handling of the situation. Raphael Bouchnik-Chen explains how the threat from the virus again became so dire:
The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Israel is proving to be more severe than its predecessor, and the data on its spread are dizzying. . . . The current dramatic infection rate in Israel is not preordained but largely an outcome of public contempt and disregard for social-distancing instructions that rendered the decisions of the political and professional echelons totally ineffectual. This tendency was also fueled by the perceived application of different standards for different sectors when it comes to enforcing restrictions on gatherings, and especially by the focus on very specific population groups.
The legal restrictions that prevent decision-makers from enforcing social-distancing restrictions on the mass demonstrations outside the prime minister’s residence—in flagrant violation of Supreme Court President Aharon Barak’s ruling that limited demonstrations opposite Prime Minister Yitzḥak Rabin’s official residence during the Oslo process—are a Pyrrhic victory for the self-styled defenders of the “freedom of expression.” Apart from its immediate adverse health implications, the inevitable consequence of this absurdity is to encourage defiance even among those who have already internalized the need to obey the rules.
And as if that were not enough, agenda-driven public-health “experts” and commentators keep saying the demonstrations should continue and even broaden in scope since there is no danger of infection in the open air.
If implemented with resolve, aptitude, and sensitivity, this lockdown could curb the rising infection rate just as its predecessors did during the first wave in Israel and around the world.
Read more on BESA Center: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/israel-another-lockdown/