Some ministers oppose lockdown plan: ‘It isn’t a solution’

The plan to possibly impose a nationwide lockdown during the upcoming High Holiday period due to surging coronavirus cases is causing disagreement within the cabinet, according to leaks published by Hebrew media.

Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton, who has courted controversy by calling plans to vaccinate students in schools a “crime,” said during a cabinet meeting that the option of a lockdown must be “taken off the agenda,” according to reports.

“There are [reservation] cancellations and people are anxious for… their livelihood,” she reportedly says. “We have seen the charts — it doesn’t matter whether countries imposed lockdown or not, the morbidity charts look the same.”

Intelligence Minister Elazar Stern concurs: “We need to eliminate the word ‘lockdown’ from our lexicon. We are causing people to live under threat.”

Hamad Amar, a minister in the Finance Ministry, notes that Australia is currently in its eighth lockdown yet cases are still on the rise, claiming that “lockdown isn’t a solution.”

Other ministers emphasize the need for a lockdown and the importance of talking publicly about a lockdown before imposing one.