Cabinet vote on extending lockdown delayed to next week, could mean 24-hour gap

A cabinet vote on extending Israel’s nationwide coronavirus lockdown was pushed on Thursday until the beginning of next week after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and the Blue and White faction failed to resolve a dispute over raising fines for those who violate the virus restrictions.

The Knesset will convene on Sunday or Monday to vote on a bill that will double fines for violators, according to Hebrew media reports.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party has said it will not approve extending the lockdown until the bill on raising fines is passed into law. The party argues the measure is necessary as part of a general increase in enforcement of lockdown regulations to effectively curb the virus.

The lockdown is set to expire at midnight Sunday. Should the Knesset only convene on Monday there will be a period during which there will be no restrictions at all until the cabinet can meet to order a new lockdown.

Gantz had demanded that the Knesset be quickly convened Thursday to pass the bill on raising fines ahead of a planned cabinet meeting later in the evening.

Appearing to accept that demand, Netanyahu said during a visit to a vaccine center in the Bedouin town of Arara that he supports passing the legislation “as written” as soon as possible and that the Knesset should convene Thursday to vote on it.

No Knesset session was held, however, and as a result, no cabinet meeting either.

Netanyahu and Gantz, although theoretically aligned on the need for the lockdown to continue, are divided over the issue of raising fines for those who violate the closure.

Gantz has vowed that his Blue and White party will not agree to extend the lockdown unless fines are raised and enforcement is applied evenly to all communities. However, the move to raise the fines is opposed by Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox allies as many institutions in Haredi society have continued to operate throughout the lockdown, angering critics who say that the current level of enforcement isn’t enough.

Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin was exploring the possibility of convening the Knesset to vote on Sunday, enabling a cabinet vote on a lockdown extension before the Sunday midnight deadline, according to Hebrew media reports.

Even when the cabinet does convene, opinions are divided on how many days to add to the closure, which has shuttered all non-essential businesses and the education system, with the exception of special education institutes.

While the Health Ministry reportedly wants to add another week, ending the closure after the weekend to take advantage of two days when much of the country would not be at work anyway, some ministers prefer an extension of just a few days.

In addition, the Health Ministry is reportedly opposed to suggestions that some aspects of the lockdown be eased, in particular by reopening parts of the education system and certain commercial activities.

The lockdown, now in its third week, has not produced a significant drop in infection numbers. Thousands of Israelis are being diagnosed with the virus every day and the positive test rate has remained at around 9 percent, compared with lows of around just 1% reached in previous lockdowns.

The infection numbers remain high despite Israel’s successful vaccination campaign. Israel leads the world by far per capita in inoculations, with over a quarter of the population having received its first shot.

Officials, including Netanyahu, have blamed the raging outbreak on new variants of the virus that are believed to be more infectious

The so-called British strain accounts for 70% of new cases in Israel, the Kan public broadcasters reported.

The Health Ministry is considering adopting a recommendation by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, that the public wear two masks to better defend themselves against the new mutations.

Tomer Lotan, a senior official in the Health Ministry, told Channel 12 that idea is being discussed by the professional teams that issue the guidelines on behalf of the ministry.

Though there are violations in all areas of the country there have been repeated reports of Haredi communities flouting the rules. Wednesday and Thursday saw more reports of behind-closed-doors celebrations in ultra-Orthodox communities to mark the Tu Bishvat holiday.

The Health Ministry said Thursday night that 7,694 Israelis were diagnosed with the virus the previous day, bringing the total number of active cases to 72,507 and the number of infections since the start of the pandemic to 628,895.

There are 1,141 patients in serious condition, including 319 on ventilators. The death toll rose to 4,669.