Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett has announced that unvaccinated citizens will not be able to attend “any activity with over 100 people, indoors or out.”
QUICK FACTS:
- Israel’s Corona Cabinet recently decided to ban the unvaccinated from “the cinema, the theater, the synagogue, the amusement park, [and] the soccer game.”
- Unvaccinated Israelis will be banned from attending “any activity with over 100 people, indoors or out.”
- The ban will commence August 8.
- Synagogues will be off-limits for those refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.
- Entrance to events with more than 100 attendees will be allowed only for “the vaccinated, recovered and those with a negative test result who are aged 12 and over,” Reuters reports.
BACKGROUND:
- The move to ban the unvaccinated comes amid worries over the coronavirus Delta variant, deemed by the CDC to be more “aggressive” and “transmissible” than earlier strains.
- Israel’s government will reinstate the “Green Pass” on July 29, according to Reuters, which requires proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to access events with 100+ people. “The (Green Pass) will apply to cultural and sporting events, gyms, restaurants and dining halls, conferences, tourist attractions and houses of worship,” Prime Minister Bennett’s office said in a statement after meeting his Coronavirus Cabinet.
- Bennett hopes his so-called “soft suppression” policy will make Israelis “learn to live with the virus” and in turn avoid a fourth national lockdown.
- On July 30, Israel will also enact travel bans for the United Kingdom, Georgia, Cyprus, and Turkey.
- Measures including wearing masks indoors and tighter entry requirements for incoming travelers have already been reinstated, notes Reuters.
- Earlier, the Israeli Knesset handed the government powers to force all citizens returning to the country to wear a tracking device called a “Freedom Bracelet” during their mandatory Covid-19 quarantine, or else be confined in a military-run isolation hotel, RT reported.
Jon Fleetwood is Managing Editor for American Faith.
