Bennett urges further restrictions before coronavirus cabinet meets

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is calling for further coronavirus restrictions ahead of today’s meeting of the ministerial committee tasked with steering the government’s pandemic response, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

“The [increase in] the rate of sick people is doubling and therefore we need more tightening to avoid harsh steps later on,” he is quoted as saying by the broadcaster.

Among the new restrictions the Health Ministry will push for during the meeting are to add 18 more countries, including the United States, to a list of nations from where arriving travelers — regardless if they’re vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 — must quarantine for at least seven days after landing in Israel.

Hebrew media reports said the other countries are Ukraine, Italy, Iceland, Eswatini (Swaziland), Botswana, Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands, Tanzania, Greece, Malawi, Egypt, the Czech Republic, France, Cuba, Rwanda and Tunisia.