MK Smotrich
MK SmotrichFlash 90

The chairman of the Religious Zionist Party, MK Bezalel Smotrich, attacked in the Knesset plenum the conduct of the Bennett-Lapid government in the face of the fifth wave of the coronavirus in Israel.

"In those days there was no king in Israel, a man would do what was right in his own eyes," Smotrich said. "We are entering the fifth wave of corona and there is no strong leader figure as prime minister to steer us and lead with a consistent and orderly policy.

"There is a prime minister in name only, where none of his partners appreciate or accept his leadership. His partners know that he has no public legitimacy and that he is dependent on them and became prime minister only because of them."

Therefore, Smotrich argued, Bennett's partners in the coalition "can pull anyone in their own direction and the result is confusion, conflicting messages, back and forth in decision-making and a lack of trust and public cooperation. And that is dangerous, very dangerous."

Last night, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett convened a discussion with senior Ministry of Health officials and several ministers, which ended without a decision. The Prime Minister's Office said that further consultation discussions will be held in order to formulate the continuation of the action plan for the treatment of Omicron, which will be brought to the approval of the Corona Cabinet.

In yesterday's discussion, various options for tightening the restrictions were discussed as part of the continued spread of the strain, including restricting the gathering, expanding the Green Pass and also applying it to the trade industries, stopping funding for antigen tests for children, and more.

Senior Ministry of Health officials have proposed, among other things, the reduction of gatherings at events and cultural events, and according to the proposal, gatherings indoors will be limited to 100-300 people, while gatherings in open spaces will be limited to 500-1,000 people.

A proposal has been made that a Green Pass be applied only to the vaccinated and recovering - and only they will be able to enter restaurants, cultural events, etc. They also proposed the obligation to wear masks in gatherings in open spaces, in addition a proposal was considered that those returning from abroad be isolated for 72 hours from the moment they returned and not for three days.