בנט בתרגיל הלאומי
בנט בתרגיל הלאומיצילום: חיים צח/ לע"מ

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called on parents Thursday to vaccinate their children.

Speaking at a situational briefing Thursday afternoon held at the National Management Center for the ‘Omega’ COVID training exercise, Bennett told reporters called the exercise, which is aimed at preparing Israel for new variants of the coronavirus, “unprecedented”.

“We are here to begin an unprecedented event, not just for Israel but for the whole world. We are carrying out a training exercise in the war against a new variant which doesn’t yet exist, but we are preparing for.”

“We brought Israel out of the Delta wave, without a single day of lockdowns. That is an important achievement, something that in and of itself is important because it shows how you can do things differently. We proved that with the right management, you can beat the pandemic.”

"The world is still in the reality of a pandemic. The coronavirus has not yet disappeared. There is currently record morbidity in Europe, for example. The most threatening thing is not even the current situation but what we do not yet know. Just like the Delta strain broke out violently, other, even more deadly and more infectious strains could come, which could bypass the vaccine."

Bennett went on to call the coronavirus vaccine “the most important weapon” in Israel’s arsenal against COVID, and urged parents to vaccinate their children.

“Our goal is to have most of the population protected. Now that the FDA has authorized [emergency use], the Advisory Committee for Epidemic Management in Israel have also authorized [the vaccine for children], and there are no questions regarding its safety, there is no reason to leave our children unprotected.”

“There is no reason for a child to be infected and infect others, and in some cases deal with the results of side-effects from long COVID, with a series of serious complications, when their whole lives are ahead of them.”

“Therefore, I call on parents: vaccinate your children, protect them, give your children the same kind of protection you have.”