Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov responded to criticism of the Health Ministry's handling of the coronavirus crisis in an interview with Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) Sunday morning.
Responding to criticism that he is out of touch and inattentive to people's plight, Bar Siman Tov said: "It is our responsibility. We are the ones who will ultimately pay the price."
"In the end we have to look at the outcome compared to other countries. Without the early closure, there there would have been 600,000 patients here according to our predictions, which is a catastrophic health and economic event," he argued.
The interviewer, Yishai Sarav, asked: "If you could go back a month, what would you do differently?"
Bar Siman Tov responded, "I don't know. We are doing our best in the face of a very fast and dizzying event."
On the decision to open the IKEA store chain, the Health Ministry director said, "For me, it was a mistake to approve the opening of IKEA because it is like a mall."
Later in the interview he did not rule out the possibility that, following the assembly of the unity government and the expected departure of Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, his term in office would also end.
"I wish success to Litzman and whoever who comes in his place. I am here to do my best during the time I am needed, and I will continue as long as it is required of me," he said.