Health Ministry hurries to clarify that Mossad did a great job in bringing testing kits after official pooh-poohed effort

The Health Ministry has hurried to stress that thousands of coronavirus test kits brought to Israel by Mossad overnight from an undisclosed country were “important” and “necessary,” after a top official in the ministry downplayed their relevance to the efforts against the disease.

In a statement Health Ministry director general Moshe Bar Siman-Tov thanks the Mossad, as well as all other defense branches helping confront the medical crisis. He says the test kits received Thursday were “important and functional kits which we require for coronavirus tests.” He thanks Mossad chief Yossi Cohen personally for aiding health officials in the matter.

Confirming Mossad’s involvement in bringing the kits to Israel, the Prime Minister’s Office also dismisses claims that the equipment was not required by the Health Ministry.

“The equipment that arrived in Israel was needed and critical,” the office says.