Health Ministry deputy won’t be fired over quarantine waiver for billionaire

The Health Ministry’s new director-general, Chezy Levy, on Sunday said he would not fire his second-in-command for granting an Israeli-Cypriot billionaire’s request to be exempted from self-quarantine upon arriving in Israel.

Deputy Director-General Itamar Grotto came under fire after Israeli TV revealed he granted the exception to Teddy Sagi, who reportedly then attended a rooftop party in Tel Aviv that apparently violated the Health Ministry’s guidelines on large gatherings. All arrivals in Israel are required to self-isolate for 14 days to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

In a letter to Grotto, Levy said he would accept his apology and overlook his conduct, amid an outcry and calls from the ministry’s former head for his resignation.

Levy said he met with Grotto and heard his account. “After I evaluated the matter, I decided it was best to reprimand you for your handling of this case. Your approach was wrong,” he wrote, adding that no further punitive action would be taken.

Grotto on June 12 apologized for granting Sagi’s request to be exempted from self-quarantine.

“For every case in which my judgment was wrong, and the decision that followed was wrong, I apologize,” Grotto wrote in a letter to the Health Ministry’s outgoing director-general, Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, who was replaced by Levy.

As first reported by Channel 12 earlier this month, Sagi asked Bar Siman-Tov to allow him to enter the country without having to self-quarantine but was turned down. He then turned to Grotto, who the network said approved the request.

While admitting he was wrong to waive Sagi’s quarantine, Grotto said in his letter to Bar Siman-Tov that “the incident should be put into proportion,” slamming “the myriad of slander and assaults against me in recent days.”

According to a report by the Ynet news site on June 11, which said it obtained the email in which Grotto approved the waiver, Sagi told the senior health official he had been infected with the coronavirus two months earlier in London and recovered. He also submitted his antibodies test to the Israeli health official and underwent another coronavirus test days before his flight, which turned up negative, the report said. Sagi also argued in his request that quarantine was not necessary since he arrived from Cyprus, which has few cases.

Ynet site said Bar Siman-Tov had sent a “harsh” letter to Grotto, demanding clarifications and urging him to resign if the accusations were true.

“An exemption from quarantine, contrary to regulation, creates serious harm to the public’s faith in us, the professional health authorities and the government,” Bar Siman-Tov wrote, according to Ynet, which said it had a copy of the letter.

Bar Siman-Tov demanded to know if an exemption was given, and if so, what the justification was. He also asked if similar, unauthorized exemptions had been made.

“I hope there is a professionally satisfactory explanation for this and that the reports will prove to be false; however, if they are true then you need to immediately draw the appropriate conclusions,” he wrote.

Grotto, an epidemiologist, has served as deputy director-general of the Health Ministry since 2017.