Yuli Edelstein
Yuli EdelsteinFlash 90

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein on Friday commented on the coronavirus lockdown and on the sharp increase in cases Israel has recorded recently.

"We need to tell the public the truth - we are going for a few weeks of a lockdown, but under varying conditions. We will start lifting it slowly. We will not repeat the mistakes we made of opening everything immediately," Edelstein said in an interview on Channel 13 News.

The Health Minister also stated, "The talk on enormous economic damage [as a result of the lockdown] is a bit exaggerated."

"The lockdown was done in the clearest way possible, no one received any celebrity discounts," the minister claimed. Commenting on the controversy that erupted in the Knesset, he said, "I am used to the spectacle of procrastination in the Knesset, but as soon as we understand that we are in an emergency, in a real war - things may move faster. There are quite a few who do not understand that we are in a state of emergency. I was also happy to hear responsible voices from the opposition, who said that the guidelines should be maintained, there were even voices that were in favor of a lockdown. Unfortunately, this is not true for everyone, and a few rebellious people are enough to submit thousands of reservations and try to thwart the legislation."

On the allegations that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is taking advantage of the situation for his personal needs, Edelstein said, "I would never lend a hand to any move which would appear to be made out of political considerations. All our decisions were made after lengthy discussions in the Ministry of Health with Prof. Gamzu and his staff. The government voted by a huge majority in favor of the lockdown, despite all the difficulty it entails. Most of the ministers understood that it was no longer possible to say that the coronavirus was just a flu."

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)