Netanyahu: Opposition leaders encouraging ‘anarchy’ over virus rules

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the IDF Home Front Command’s contact tracing program, which the coronavirus czar has said won’t be operational till November.

Netanyahu says he’s “very impressed” by the interminsterial cooperation and says the program to cut the chains of infection could be “the best of its kind in the world.”

He touts the government’s efforts to contain the virus and rehabilitate the economy, even as Israel has seen some of the worst infection rates worldwide.

“The Israeli economy has contracted half of what European economies experienced,” he claims.

The prime minister then admits that Israel’s COVID-19 rates are troubling.

“We are experiencing a high infection rate” and may be accelerating, he acknowledges.

The numbers are growing because people aren’t wearing masks and there are gatherings, says Netanyahu.

“The experts are worried about a surprise spike in serious cases” and deaths, he says.

Netanyahu says politicians are encouraging Israelis to stop heeding the government’s health rules and fail to listen to police orders, in a reference to Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman.

“This is anarchy,” he says.

“Show responsibility, stop this inappropriate… behavior,” he says.