Likud MK David Bitan at the Knesset on July 31, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Likud lawmaker David Bitan, 60, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Knesset Guard said on Monday.
“I feel fine, I have only mild symptoms,” Bitan said of his condition in a Twitter post.
The parliament said it was tracing Bitan’s contacts, adding that he was last in the Knesset on Wednesday. No information was immediately offered on where Bitan is believed to have become infected.
Bitan, who chairs the Knesset’s Immigration and Absorption Committee, was among the politicians who greeted new immigrants from Ethiopia on Thursday.
That ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, and other senior government officials, though the politicians wore masks at the outdoor welcoming event at Ben Gurion Airport.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, second left, and his wife Sarah, third left, greet members of the Ethiopian Jewish community as they arrive at Ben Gurion airport, outside Tel Aviv, on December 3, 2020. (Amos Ben Gershon/GPO)
Netanyahu’s office said he would not self-isolate, as he was exposed to Bitan for under 15 minutes, according to Channel 13.
Likud MK Miki Zohar announced that he was entering quarantine after meeting with Bitan on Thursday.
Bitan joins a handful of lawmakers and ministers who have contracted the virus, including then-health minister Yaakov Litzman, Immigration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, Joint List leader Ayman Odeh, Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel, Jerusalem Affairs Minister Rafi Peretz, and Shas MK Yinon Azoulay.
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