Defense Minister Naftali Bennett called for the responsibility for the fight against the spread of the coronavirus to be transferred to the defense establishment Wednesday.
"The Health Ministry is an excellent department, but it has no experience with crisis management. Taking tens of thousands of tests a day is not a thing they can do. If the coronavirus crisis is not immediately transferred to the security establishment, we will not be able to return to normal. I've been soft on this so far, but this is about our lives," Bennett said.
He said he had heard in the media about the Prime Minister's decision to house all those returning from overseas in the coronavirus hotels.' "It is very expensive, can cost NIS 300 million and it can turn the hotels into coronavirus incubators. We have to check all who land here, and those who arrive from infected countries should be sent to a hotel, the rest must be put into isolation. This requires smart and effective planning."
On the attack that was attributed to Israel last night near Homs in Syria, the defense minister said that "Even in the coronavirus crisis, the State of Israel continues to operate beyond its borders."
Addressing the Yamina party's position on the current coalition negotiations, Bennett said: "I wait for the PM to decide on the government's structure and direction. These days, I am not dealing with theories, but application. We're in the middle of a war. It is no less significant than the previous Israeli wars, but it is very different."
"I found out today that 1000 machines are being sold from warehouses in Israel to abroad, and not in Israel, because of bureaucracies that say we don't want the machines. It is inconceivable," the defense minister stressed.