Bennett: Israel seems to now have ‘upper hand’ against current COVID wave

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett touts the recent drop in serious coronavirus cases and other indicators that the current wave of morbidity is receding.

“In the campaign against the coronavirus, it seems, at this stage, that we have the upper hand. All indicators are showing a gradual decline in morbidity,” he says at the start of the cabinet meeting.

The premier says, however, that “we cannot become complacent,” vowing to “continue the campaign all-out, even as we prepare for the next stage.”

He also says the government has been “standing strong in the face of external noise that is constantly pressuring for lockdowns and sweeping restrictions; we have stayed determined on this issue.”

“The idea that has guided us all along has been what tools we can give to the public – be they vaccines, large-scale testing, precise directives – before we decide to take away from the public freedoms, livelihoods, life and economic security,” Bennett says.