A Likud lawmaker on Tuesday gave rare praise for the Israeli Health Ministry, lauding its recent steps easing COVID quarantines, while continuing to call for the end to mass quarantines and the Green Pass system.
MK Gadi Yevarkan issued a statement Tuesday afternoon backing the Ministry’s decision to reduce the duration of COVID quarantines to five days and to ease the testing requirements for ending quarantine, while condemning the Green Pass system, which limits access to certain venues to the vaccinated or recently recovered, offering them reduced quarantines as well.
“The steps by the Health Ministry are a good start, but they aren’t enough. The government must cancel the testing outline and the quarantines and give people their freedom back!”
“For months now, I’ve been the only voice out of 120 Knesset Members who has been shouting to end this discriminatory and unjust system.”
“I call to end the ‘Green Pass’ system, end the quarantines and end the tests which lack real transparency in terms of people infected with the Omicron variant.”
“Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz called me, in the Knesset plenum, “irresponsible”, despite my position being backed by a team of experts.”
“In the end, the Health Ministry is starting to accept our recommendations – only after the public paid dearly economically, in terms of democracy, in terms of mental health, and social cohesion.”
“The one who called me ‘irresponsible’ behaved irresponsibly toward the public and led to everyone being harmed. But the pressure is starting to work…the Health Ministry has changed its position and is starting to ease restrictions, and is starting to consider cancel the Green Pass system, as I called for so many times.”