Corona confuses Israel and Netanyahu employs him politically

Mohamed Mohsen Wedd - occupied Jerusalem

The repercussions of talking about the Corona virus in Israel varied after scores of infections were recorded, amid fears of an increase in the number, which cast a shadow over the economic, educational and military sectors, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to employ the situation politically.

As of Sunday evening, the Israeli Ministry of Health recorded 39 cases of coronavirus, amid warnings of a high number, with the announcement of imposing a quarantine on 130,000 Israelis for a period of 14 days, including thousands of school students and hundreds of soldiers.

"It is not possible to prevent the outbreak of corona, and the measures that are taken to reduce infection and the repercussions of the virus on the health and lives of citizens, where we estimate that the number of infections with the virus will reach thousands, perhaps tens of thousands," Israeli 12 Channel quoted Itamar Grotto, deputy director of the Ministry of Health, as saying.

The ministry’s decisions included banning international meetings, celebrations and conferences in the country, preventing Israelis from traveling to participate in international conferences and international events, and recommending avoiding travel outside the country except in cases of necessity, and it was decided to form a joint task force for the police and the Ministry of Health to impose quarantine.

Crossings
Meanwhile, the Israeli Ministry of the Interior imposed strict measures on the land crossings that prevent entry to those who do not hold the Israeli passport, while studying the imposition of domestic quarantine on Israelis returning to the country, including those from the United States.

In the context of the redeployment of the Israeli occupation army in the occupied Palestinian territories, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett is studying the imposition of a comprehensive security cordon on the West Bank and Gaza and the closure of land crossings, after imposing a full closure on the city of Bethlehem last Thursday, under the pretext of preventing the spread of the virus.

Also, the Minister of Internal Security, Gilad Ardan, issued yesterday evening instructions to the Prisons Commission to prevent family visits of Palestinian prisoners until further notice, under the pretext of recording cases of Corona virus in the Palestinian territories.

The spread of the Corona virus led to the cancellation of the joint "Jennifer Cobra" military exercise by the Israeli army and the European Command of the US Army, which was supposed to end next Friday with the participation of about 3,000 soldiers from both armies.

The maneuver aims to boost cooperation in air defenses and address regional missile threats, while Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi canceled his visit to Washington, DC, this week, without disclosing the purpose of the visit.

confusion
The tourism and aviation sector is the most affected sector, and the tourism sector coming to Israel - which was estimated at about 2.5 million tourists until the end of next September - is threatened with collapse, and the financial losses that will be incurred by the hotel sector are estimated at about ten billion dollars, after canceling about 50% of Tourist reservations.

The Directorate of Aviation and Crossings granted about 70% of its employees open vacations, and Israel closed Ben Gurion Airport to flights from Europe, China and East Asia, and the Israeli airline "Elal" canceled dozens of daily flights to various destinations in the world, and its expected losses are estimated at 150 million dollars. International airlines have suspended travel to Tel Aviv.

The stock exchange in Tel Aviv also recorded losses in stock trading that ranged between 6% and 22% for various Israeli and foreign companies, especially energy and oil companies, banks and pension funds, with daily losses estimated at about one billion dollars.

Political recruitment
For his part, Netanyahu chose in his televised address to the Israeli public to use the repercussions of the outbreak of the Corona virus to get out of the government formation crisis, and called on all Zionist and Jewish parties to take responsibility in light of the outbreak of the virus, and to enter into a government coalition with him to avoid heading to a fourth election.

Meanwhile, it was decided to limit the 23 ceremonial ceremonies of the Knesset scheduled for this March 16 to members of the Knesset and their families, and to cancel thousands of invitations addressed to the foreign diplomatic corps, Knesset members, former politicians, businessmen, security and military figures.

Sources said that in light of the spread of the virus and emergency reserves, Netanyahu will ask to postpone the first court hearings on charges of corruption against him, scheduled for this March 17, as this coincides with the decision of President Reuven Rivlin to draft a letter of assignment for the person who will be entrusted with the task of forming the government.