Naftali Bennett
Naftali BennettFlash 90

Yamina chairman MK Naftali Bennett spoke about how he believes Israel should be managing the coronavirus pandemic, and how he aims to extract Israel from the crisis.

In an interview with 103 FM Radio, Bennett said, "Since the beginning of January, 1,400 Israelis have died of coronavirus, and since the beginning of the month, dozens of businesses have been closed. I am offering a very detailed plan. Let's focus on getting out of corona, because this government is clueless and it doesn't have any plan. Let's see how we can create a paradise for small businesses, for the private sector, so that more jobs will be created, because the government doesn't know how to do that."

Bennett also discussed the lockdown violations among the haredi sector: "With his actions, [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu has turned the haredim into the joint homeowners of the State. When I form a government, I will undo that. We will be the homeowners of the government itself, and they will be the partners. Instead of obsessing day and night about what happens in Bnei Brak, let's focus on cleaning out Netanya, Be'er Sheva, Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Rishon Lezion. I am offering to turn Bnei Brak green. Not interested? No need for it. But no one who lives in a red city will enter, that will be a criminal offense punishable by six months in prison. And there I will be strict about enforcement."

He also praised differential coronavirus guidelines, explaining that "certainly, when the other option is the entire country closed," a differential plan is preferable. "Today all of the preschools are closed, all of the schools are closed, all stores are closed. So for an intermediate period of 10-20 days no one from red cities will enter green cities, other than exceptions. Within about 10 days there will be such a competition among the cities, other than a few cities which have decided that weddings and who knows what are more important to them. There will finally be a way for things to go well for the righteous, and those in green cities will gain from it."

On Sunday, MK Yakov Asher (United Torah Judaism) suggested a return to the "traffic light plan" to allow schools to reopen in some areas.

The "traffic light plan" ranks cities as red, orange, yellow, or green based on how many residents have contracted coronavirus. A newer version would rank cities based on coronavirus vaccination rates.