Returning citizens being processed at Ben Gurion airportTal Oz / Defense Ministry

On Sunday, following a prolonged discussion between the Prime Minister and ministers, it was decided that responsibility for the processing of citizens returning to the country would be transferred to the Defense Ministry, and the rules for the processing were delineated.

Late Sunday night came the first chance to implement them, with the landing of 102 travelers at Ben Gurion Airport on Flight B2-747 from Belarus.

As soon as they got off the plane, the passengers were taken to be processed by teams consisting of representatives from the Ministries of Defense and Health and the Home Front Command. Officials measured their temperatures and checked them for other symptoms that might indicate that they were coronavirus carriers.

At the conclusion of the tests, the passengers were sent into isolation, rather than being given the option of self-isolating in their own homes, as had happened previously, leading to many accusations that returning citizens were flouting the self-isolation rules and were not entering quarantine at all. The travelers were given the choice of spending the 14 days of isolation in the Jerusalem Gold Hotel in Jerusalem or in The Sea of Galilee hotel in Migdal.

Early Monday morning another flight arrived from Ethiopia and the travelers were processed in the same manner.

The hotel-isolation stays are being funded by the government.

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