From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Netanyahu turned down British request for ventilators — report
Channel 13 reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned down a request from UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab for respiratory ventilators last week as Prime Minister Boris Johnson lay in hospital in intensive care with COVID-19.
According to the report, several British companies tried to procure ventilators from Israel. However, due to an ordinance issued by Economy Minister Eli Cohen blocking the export of the life-saving machines from Israel, the sale did not go through.
Raab called Netanyahu to ask for an exemption so that the ventilators could be provided, but the prime minister told him that Israel needs them for itself, Channel 13 adds.
The report also claims that a Spanish request for ventilators was turned down by Foreign Minister Israel Katz even though 30 of the machines had been ordered by Spanish companies prior to the ban on exports.
The Times of Israel Community.