People wait in line at the mall
People wait in line at the mallOlivier Fitoussi/Flash90

Israel’s Coronavirus Cabinet voted Sunday evening to expand the reopening of the Israeli economy and remove additional restrictions on public activity starting next week, Kan reported.

The decision is aimed primarily at people who have received the coronavirus vaccine, while the unvaccinated will continue to be barred from a number of venues.

While street shops and houses of worship will be open to all, regardless of their vaccination status, limits on the number of people permitted to gather inside at any one given time will remain.

Other venues, however, will be reopened only for people with valid vaccination certificates, including hotels (without dining rooms), museums, gyms, malls and shopping centers, swimming pools, and sporting and cultural events.

The Health Ministry is pushing to keep the venues closed until next Tuesday, while Blue and White is demanding that the economy be reopened as quickly as possible, with venues opened to the vaccinated starting next Sunday.

The precise date of the reopening is expected to be voted on Monday morning.

Finance Minister Yisrael Katz lauded the move Sunday, telling Channel 12 that the decision marked the end of the use of lockdowns.

“There won’t be any more lockdowns. Businesses will reopen next Sunday, and for good. Purim, however, is a specific issue and we’ll need to find a solution for it.”