‘Airport opening a stab in the back:’ Israeli Health Ministry official

Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch tweeted, “The Supreme Court is taking responsibility for the risk of introducing new mutations into Israel. Good luck to all of us.”

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Israeli Health Ministry officials are sounding the alarm over the potential for international coronavirus variants to roll back the progress the country has made fighting the pandemic, after a Supreme Court decision on Wednesday evening lifted limits on the number of citizens landing at Ben Gurion Airport.

A senior Health Ministry official told Kan News, “This decision is like a knife in the back. After the opening of the country…alongside the drop in infection rates, there’s a huge worry about the variants, and that these could lead to an additional wave [of infections.]”

Kan News reported that a flight which landed in Israel Wednesday evening had seven coronavirus carriers onboard. All passengers on the flight, which departed from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, were tested for the virus upon arrival. The strains of the coronavirus carried by the passengers included the British and South African mutations, and all passengers on the flight must enter quarantine — regardless of their vaccination status.

Journalist Ketty Dror of Kan News pointed out that this event took place as the Health Ministry’s limit of just 3,000 arrivals per day is still in place. After the Supreme Court’s decision takes effect this Saturday, tens of thousands of Israelis could potentially enter the country each day.

“Israel is the only democratic country in the world that imposed such extreme restrictions on the right of citizens to return to their country,” the Supreme Court wrote.

“The restrictions were set without the government having any data about the number of citizens abroad who want to return to the country…. instead of investing efforts and resources in enforcing quarantine… the government preferred to impose a regime of entry quotas, which is more simple to implement but infringes much more on basic rights,” the ruling continued.

Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch tweeted, “The Supreme Court is taking responsibility for the risk of introducing new mutations into Israel. Good luck to all of us.”