The Chinese Embassy in Tel Aviv on Sunday criticized Israel's decision to prevent entry to those coming from China in order to prevent the coronavirus from entering Israel.
"It is reminiscent of World War II, the Holocaust, the dark days of human history. Millions of Jews were murdered and many were banned from entering countries. Few countries opened their doors, one of which was China," the Embassy said.
China's deputy ambassador to Israel, Dai Yuming, later apologized for the comparison and said, "There was no intention of comparing the dark days of the Holocaust to the current situation and to the efforts by the Israeli government to protect its citizens. We want to apologize, but someone misunderstood the message.”
Earlier on Sunday, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri arrived at the Ben Gurion Airport to take a closer look at the national preparedness to prevent the coronavirus from spreading to Israel.
"We have come to personally examine whether the decisions made in the discussion with the Prime Minister are being implemented," said Health Minister Litzman. "We will not allow harm to public health. We pray that the virus will not arrive, let's hope the prayers will help."
Interior Minister Deri said, "We are not taking risks when it comes to human life. There is no need to go into hysteria, but it is a small world and the virus is spreading fast. We returned 35 passengers yesterday and we will continue to do so, with all the unpleasantness. All the border crossings have the same guidelines. We’re unwilling to take a risk, it is better that we do unnecessary things."