Yoav Kisch
Yoav KischHezki Baruch

Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch estimated in an interview with Arutz Sheva on Tuesday that the Blue and White Party’s decision to establish a committee of inquiry into the submarine affair amounted to an announcement that elections are on the way.

"I think [Benny] Gantz has already chosen elections. He joined the axis of [Avi] Nissenkorn and [Gabi] Ashkenazi when he decided to set up a commission of inquiry for political reasons which he himself opposed. That is essentially breaking the rules of the game. Will the Knesset dissolve on December 23 or next week? I do not know. I have no doubt that Gantz has made a decision and everything indicates that we will go to elections soon," said Kisch.

Asked if there is no way for a compromise to be reached, he replied, "I think since the beginning of this government, Blue and White, despite making the move and coming to a unity government, very strong elements within it created an opposition within the coalition and prevented and thwarted any move Benny Gantz could make to bring the party into a true unity government."

"I'm not even sure it’s in our hands. We also have a lot of frustration because we wanted to move a lot of things. Starting with the sovereignty that failed because of Blue and White and Jared Kushner who chose a different path. For us it is a big miss. We are also prevented from promoting reforms in the legal system and the State Attorney's Office and this is just some of the very heavy prices we have paid. We were willing to go with them, but unfortunately, wherever they could, they harmed the government and certainly Gantz in his latest decision just brought an end to the matter."

Kisch also commented on the return of fifth and sixth graders to schools and expressed hope that the move will continue and not be interrupted. "The continuation very much depends on how we conduct ourselves because it is clear that there is a risk. There was a strategic decision by the Coronavirus Cabinet that says we put education first. I very much hope that with proper conduct by both us and the Ministry of Education, with a lot of testing and diagnosis and early stopping of infection chains, we will be able to manage the situation and maintain a low level of morbidity."

"If we do not meet our goals, the morbidity will rise, the education system will close and everything will fail. It all depends on the conduct and, in order to help us control things, we promote a process of testing in the education system that includes students with parental and teacher approval. A convenient test on the one hand and one that on the other hand will allow it to be performed at least once a week, detect early morbidity and stop outbreaks," added the Deputy Health Minister.

"In relation to where we were, we have improved a lot. Am I resting on my laurels? Absolutely not. We have an infection rate of between 700 and 900 cases a day and these are very high numbers. We are not in a stable position but quite the opposite. The public needs to be very strict about keeping the rules in order to stop this and it is in our hands."