Israelis' vaccine diplomacy

The Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, February 24, 2021. AFP - EMMANUEL DUNAND

Text by: Sami Boukhelifa Follow

3 min

The Hebrew state is exemplary in terms of vaccination against Covid-19.

Half of its population has received at least one injection.

And a third have already had the two bites needed to be immune to the coronavirus.

Building on this success, the Israelis used the famous serum as a bargaining chip.   

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The Hebrew state is expected to provide nearly 100,000 doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccine to around 15 countries.

According to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office, states around the world have approached Israel for vaccine supplies and to take advantage of Israel's immunization expertise. 

Gain international support

Vaccine against recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Hebrew state: this goes against the international consensus.

It was Donald Trump's United States that started the ball rolling in December 2017 by recognizing Jerusalem as the “indivisible capital” of Israel.

Since then, the Israeli authorities have been working to ensure that more and more countries follow this path.   

It is difficult to know precisely which states will receive these thousands of doses of vaccine in return for their diplomatic support, but Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster, draws up a list of those concerned.

These would include the Czech Republic,

Guatemala

, Honduras and Hungary.

Countries that have opened diplomatic missions in Jerusalem, or have pledged to do so.

With these vaccines available immediately, the idea is to speed up this process.

In Africa,

Chad

appears on this list and should logically benefit from these donations of Israeli vaccines.

Palestinians should also take advantage.

Objective of the Hebrew State: to silence international criticism by showing that it provides for the needs of the occupied population. 

Moderna vaccine in stock

Offer 100,000 doses?

How can Israel afford this luxury?

The Israeli authorities speak of "unused" vaccines.

Israel sourced from US laboratories, mainly PfizerBioNTech, and a small part was purchased from Moderna.

It is precisely these Moderna vaccines that are the subject of the donation.

For the moment and for logistical reasons, the Jewish state cannot inoculate them to its population.

Their storage temperature is different from that of Pfizer, used first.

So until the vaccination centers ran out of Pfizer stocks, Moderna vaccines were supposed to stay cool.

Only Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu decided to put them at the service of his diplomacy. 

This arouses the anger of part of the Israelis because it is the taxpayer who paid for these vaccines.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz denounces the actions of his rival Benyamin Netanyahu who “ 

runs the country like a monarchy 

”.

► Read also: Covid-19: in Israel, encouraging results two months after the start of vaccination

► Also to listen

:

Covid-19: Israel begins its vaccination campaign among young people aged 16 to 18

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