Rebel Likud MK, head of Knesset COVID panel, slams gov’t shuttering of restaurants, beaches

The chairperson of the Knesset’s Coronavirus Committee speaks out against the cabinet’s recent decision to close beaches on weekends and shutter restaurants starting Tuesday, save for delivery and take-away.

Yifat Shasha-Biton tells Channel 12’s Meet the Press that the Health Ministry has provided no statistics to justify the sweeping measures.

She says her panel will discuss them tomorrow, despite claims by fellow Likud MK Miki Zohar that the committee would no longer be tasked with reviewing the government’s coronavirus measures, after Shasha-Biton and her fellow members voted to reverse the cabinet’s decision last week to shutter gyms and pools.

“Tomorrow we will discuss the new coronavirus restrictions… and demand to see the data and information on which the government’s decisions were based,” she says.

She says keeping beaches open is critical in order to boost the public’s morale.

“Regarding restaurants, we said that they needed to abide by the purple badge regulations. There is no reason for them to be closed entirely,” she adds, asserting that customers can be seated outside in the open air, limiting the risk of the virus spreading.