Strange Times In Israel

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Yom Reva’e, Wednesday

22 Tevet, 5781

January 6, 2020

SPECIAL NOTICE

Your humble servant is flying out of Israel tonight and arriving in the United States on Thursday. OneIsrael will appear tomorrow if circumstances permit; if not, we will return to our regular schedule on Friday. Thank you for your understanding.

The Quote of the Day

“A serious administrative failure: 65% of of those who have been vaccinated in Israel are under the age of 60.”

Shasha Bitton, Knesset Legislator

While Israel is being lauded around the world as “vaccination nation” because of the high percentage of the population that has already received at least one dose of vaccine, serious questions are beginning to arise as to who is being vaccinated, what the effect of the vaccine is, and when the vaccines may run out.

We write vaccines because now that there are not many more Pfizer doses to be had, the Moderna vaccine will start being administered next week.

The News on the Israeli Street

The daily Corona (Covid-19) update . . .

Here are the numbers over the last 24 hours (from 8 am yesterday until 8 am today):

456,139 Israelis have been confirmed with the virus since the pandemic began last March.

There are 7,966 newly confirmed cases.

843 are in critical condition—an increase of 71

211 of the most critically ill are on ventilators—a decrease of 32

3,496 have died–an increase of 51

There are currently 58,932 active Corona cases in Israel.

Today’s update is one of the worst that we have seen since the epidemic began: more than 50 Israelis died yesterday; there was nearly a 10% increase in critically ill, and we are approaching 60,000 active cases in the country.

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The hardest hit communities continue to be ultra-orthodox. Whereas just a few months ago there seemed to be a strong adherence to Corona regulations among the haredi, events such as the huge 1000 person wedding of the Toldot Avraham Yitzhak last night in Beitar Illit have sent Corona cases spiraling out of control.

A follow up on yesterday’s attempted stabbing . . .

It is a phenomenon that has been repeated many times over the years: the terrorist who was killed at Gush Etzion Junction was the son of an officer in the PLO police.

TODAY’S BLOG:

Strange Times In Israel

As regular readers of OneIsrael know, your humble servant lives half of each year in Israel and half in the United States. As noted above, I will be leaving Israel very early this morning on a nonstop flight and arriving in California 15 hours later at 6 am.

I have been in Israel for almost 8 months having arrived last May.

These months have been strange for many reasons–most of which have the Corona virus at their core:

*The country seems leaderless and adrift. We’ve written about this numerous times, but the simple fact is that PM Netanyahu seems out to lunch as his trial approaches.

*Everyday Israelis have completely lost faith in government decision-making. How is it possible to ever make a Corona decision when one government body contradicts another body which contradicts the “Corona Cabinet” which contradicts the Knesset? The government has been exposed for what it is–a group of petty politicians. 

*The endless lockdowns have virtually destroyed people’s livelihoods and businesses. Hundreds of thousands of unemployed; businesses shuttered–what’s going to happen when unemployment insurance and payments to businesses run out?

*The endless lockdowns have virtually torn apart the ties that bind Israelis together: celebrating holidays with families and friends, and celebrating life events such as brits, bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings, and even funerals with families and friends. 

*While the land itself has flourished because of the lack of human interaction, that lack of interaction means that people have been unable to travel during large swaths of time. Just going to the Kotel in Jerusalem has been extremely difficult for people living outside of the capital.

*And speaking of travel, nearly 90% fewer Israelis have left the country on vacations than usual. This may seem like a trivial point, but in a small country with a dense population surrounded on at least several sides by hostile forces, traveling was always a means to escape the Israel pressure cooker.

*That lack of a way to vent has led to ever more civil “insanity”: on the roads, on city streets, and even in parking lots. 

I could go on, but you get the not so pretty picture.

Nevertheless, Israelis can find comfort in the fact that relatively few Israelis have died from the virus, and that Judaism itself continues to flourish with “synagogues” springing up in backyards and on sidewalks.

Your humble servant remains optimistic that the vaccines will return a sense of normalcy to this beleaguered country.

I haven’t left quite yet, but I am already waiting for my return.  

There is still no country in the world like Israel.