Health minister: Lockdown plan must be approved, it’s ‘life and death’

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein is warning the cabinet he won’t accept changes to the government’s lockdown plan over the Jewish holidays, as the cabinet meets to debate the proposal.

“There is no choice but to impose a lockdown… This is a difficult day for the country. But there is no other choice but this proposal,” he says.

“Therefore I would like to be clear — with the exception of various cosmetic changes, I will not permit negotiations over the plan,” says Edelstein. “I am saying this clearly at the start of the discussion: if the plan is not accepted, I will pull it and I won’t bring forth an alternative plan. The coronavirus is not a political issue and not a matter of populism. It’s a matter of life and death.”

He speaks ahead of the cabinet meeting.