Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon announced economic measures on Monday evening in light of the coronavirus epidemic that is hurting business, saying "The public sector is moving to work on an emergency basis and will only employ essential workers."
Kahlon said, "People in the business sector who are going on unpaid vacation will receive unemployment benefits under improved conditions," noting, "until today, in order to be eligible for unemployment, 12 months of work had to be accumulated. Due to the crisis, we will reduce the eligibility [requirement] to six months."