Prime Minister Naftali Bennett cancelled a New Year's reception which was scheduled to be held on Sunday due to what was described as “growing concerns over a potential new COVID wave in Israel.”
The event was to have been held under the auspices of the Government Press Office and was supposed to be attended by about 400 people. The message to the participants read, "We apologize for the inconvenience, thank you for your understanding, and wish you a better, healthier 2022."
Almost at the same time as Bennett's announcement of the cancellation of the gathering, Alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid held a conference with hundreds of activists in Kiryat Tivon.
"Thank you to the hundreds of activists who came to the Yesh Atid conference in Kiryat Tivon, to hear about what this government has managed to do in the six months since we established it, and also to ask questions about our work plans. I thanked them for their faith. In the path. In us. And for not stopping for a moment - simply because they care that the State of Israel will be a better place,” Lapid tweeted.
“So Lapid meets hundreds of Yesh Atid activists tonight but Bennett cancels an annual press conference with the foreign press scheduled for tomorrow. Just the latest example of a government that doesn't have a clear policy,” tweeted Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief Yaakov Katz.
As of Saturday night, 45 new cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been identified in Israel: 86 returned from South Africa, England, France, the US, UAE, Hungary, Italy, Namibia, Tanzania, Germany, Morocco, Spain, Serbia, Belgium, and Turkey. 28 of the confirmed cases have been in contact with returnees from South Africa, England, the US and France. 20 of the cases were infected in the community.
On Sunday, the government is expected to discuss a proposal under which Israelis would be prohibited from traveling to most countries in the world.
According to a Channel 12 News report, Bennett said in closed discussions that, "Any minister who votes against the actions now will bear responsibility for the outbreak. I expect all of the ministers to understand the enormity of this event and not to give in to public pressure or to pressure by lobbyists."