Israel will shut down its only major airport for a week in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus and prevent new variants from emerging.
The Washington Post reports that the Israeli cabinet agreed on Sunday to stop all inbound and outbound flights from Ben Gurion International Airport until at least the end of January. Cargo flights, medical evacuations and “firefighting flights” will be exempted from the rule.
“No country has done what we are going to do – we are hermetically sealing it,” said the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu MORE. “We do this to prevent the onset of the virus mutations and to ensure that we make rapid progress with our vaccination campaign.”
The rule will apply to Jewish immigrants traveling to the country under the law of return, the Post reports.
The more contagious British variant of the coronavirus has been detected in Israel, the Post reports, adding to Israel’s decision to shut itself off from the world. Another new species has been discovered that is believed to be native to South Africa.
The Post notes that Israel excels at administering doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, with 27 percent of the population receiving the first dose. However, the country has received international condemnation for refusing to provide vaccines to Palestinians in the occupied territories
“Nothing can justify today’s reality in parts of the West Bank, where people on one side of the street are getting vaccines, while those on the other don’t, based on whether they are Jewish or Palestinian,” the said. director of Israel and Palestine at Human Rights Watch (HRW) Omar Shakir in a statement.
“Everyone in the same area should have equitable access to the vaccine, regardless of ethnicity.”
Palestinian leaders have stated they do not have the money to pay for coronavirus vaccines. Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein has said that Israel is not responsible for providing vaccines to Palestinians, but acknowledged that it would be in Israel’s interest to do so. However, Edelstein stated that all vaccines provided to Palestine would come after the Israeli population was vaccinated.