Officials looking to squelch lockdown exit talk

Ministers reportedly believe that caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning on delaying any plans to roll back coronavirus restrictions, after he said no decision on an exit strategy would be made until after the Passover-capping holiday of Mimouna.

The National Security Council, which has been coordinating Israel’s response to the pandemic, has instructed ministers not to make any public promises or even give the impression that a decision has been made to start returning to normal, the Ynet news site reports, quoting Health Ministry Deputy Director Itamar Grotto.

“We need to explain to the public that they need to continue to keep to the regulations with no let-up, especially during the holiday and Mimouna. This is a basic condition for being able to start a gradual and cautious exit toward a different routine,” he says.

Government officials fear optimistic numbers and increasing talk of a possible exit from the crisis had led people to be more lax toward social distancing regulations, Channel 12 news reports.

The Kan news broadcaster quotes an unnamed minister also pouring cold water on the idea of a looming exit.

“There’s no clear exit strategy, there’s not enough tests, and no tools on the table other than decisions that put the country in a lockdown,” the minister is quoted saying.

Avi Simhon, the prime minister’s economics adviser, tells the station that the process of exiting will take several months at least: “I don’t think that in another two months we’ll be in a situation where it’s like nothing happened, that scenario is too optimistic.”