The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected the request of the Israeli Prime Minister to provide Tel Aviv with respirators for use in treating people with the ever-increasing number of coronavirus in Israel.

The newspaper added that Netanyahu made this request during a recent phone conversation with Merkel and addressed ways to address the spread of the virus. The Israeli Prime Minister's office revealed last Tuesday the phone conversation, but later refused to comment on its content.

According to the newspaper, Merkel replied that Germany could not provide Israel with respirators, because it also suffers from a shortage, especially since it recently loaned France hundreds of them.

Yediot Aharonot quoted an Israeli official as saying that there was apparently no possibility to bring anything from Europe, as the Europeans find it difficult to help themselves, given the widespread outbreak of the Corona virus in several countries, including Germany, Italy and Spain.

The same source also mentioned that Israel has applied several times to obtain respirators from different countries, but has not obtained anything from them until now.

Another Israeli official told the newspaper that Israel is seeking in various ways to obtain medical devices used to combat the Corona virus, noting in this context that the head of the Israeli Mossad, Yossi Cohen, began using his personal relationships with leaders of secret organizations to put his hand on the devices that Israel needs.

The official Israeli "Kan" channel revealed last Wednesday that a joint team formed under the leadership of Cohen and National Security Council Chairman Meir bin Shabat to purchase the necessary medical equipment from abroad, noting that the team is preparing to purchase ten thousand respirators from the United States and from unnamed Gulf countries .

At present, Israel has about three thousand respirators, but it fears an acute shortage of these vital devices if the numbers of people with corona continue to double every three days.

The Israeli Prime Minister had recently warned that about a million Israelis might be infected with the Corona virus.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Ministry of Health announced the registration of 425 new cases of coronavirus.

This brings the total number of people affected by the epidemic in Israel to 3,460, of whom fifty are in serious condition, while the number of deaths is 12.