After presenting the plan to give grants to Israeli citizens in wake of the coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Netanyahu related to the violent protests that have taken place and what he defined as "the conspiracy industry" regarding the pandemic.
"I heard just now about an American man who was 30 and who died", Netanyahu said, "He was infected at a large "coronavirus event" and before his death, his last words were and I read: 'I thought that this was a conspiracy but I was wrong.' The conspiracy industry exists in Israel; it is simply unbelievable. I heard about a public representative who is calling for a civil rebellion."
Regarding the protests, Netanyahu emphasized that Israel is a free democracy: "Freedom of expression and protest are reserved for every person and group, certainly in times of economic distress such as this".
"But the revolt," he stated, "joining politics to the coronavirus, abrogating responsibility and abrogating the rules – this is real danger. People are infected because they do not mind the rules, at demonstrations and such, and afterwards they infect others. This is simply disastrous."
Netanyahu concluded by relating to the days marked in the Jewish calendar - the 'Three Weeks' of mourning in memory of the destroyed Holy Temples. "We are in the Three Weeks", the Prime Minister noted, "but what we have seen in the streets in the last few days – we forget that. We ignore questions of safeguards and responsibility, and we see not just a protest, that is legitimate. We saw violence against police and against civilians. This violence deserves all condemnation and it ill befits those elected by the public to call for violating the health directives. Nobody, from whatever side of the political spectrum, has the right to do this. I tell you, we must not talk about civil rebellion. We cannot fall into gratuitous hatred. We cannot fall into hating our brothers."
"In these days we recall what befell our people in an earlier era, when hating our brothers and gratuitous hatred ruled the roost. We cannot go there. We must behave in exactly the opposite manner. We must deepen the unity between us. We must watch our own. I believe that with joint forces, we will fight the coronavirus and defeat it."