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Israel to Expand Coronavirus Vaccine Drive to All Over-16S Alexandra Lukash, Adir Yanko| 02.03.21 YNET

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Israel to Expand Coronavirus Vaccine Drive to All Over-16S Alexandra Lukash, Adir Yanko| 02.03.21 YNET Israel to expand coronavirus vaccine drive to all over-16s Alexandra Lukash, Adir Yanko| 02.03.21 YNET With the number of Israelis turning up to receive the coronavirus vaccine dropping, the Health Ministry said Wednesday it is opening up the national vaccination drive to anyone over the age of 16. The ministry instructed the country's health funds to make the necessary preparations for the expansion from Thursday, but said efforts must continue to reach more people over the age of 50 who have yet to be inoculated. Health Ministry Director-General Hezi Levi told Ynet on Wednesday that the decision was triggered by the declining turnout for vaccines, which has left vaccination centers across the country standing almost empty. Israel leads the world in the percentage of the population who have been vaccinated, with a massive push to administer the inoculations to the entire country by March. So far, more than 3.2 million of the 9 million Israeli citizens have received the first dose of the two-stage vaccinations, while almost 2 million of that number have also received the second dose. But ministry officials said Wednesday that there was only a small rise last week in the total number of over-60s - who are considered high risk from COVID-19 - who have received a vaccine. The officials also highlighted a 250% rise in seriously ill COVID-19 cases in people under 40 in the past month, which they attributed to the spread of a British mutation of the virus. The country last week also began vaccinating 11th and 12th graders so that they could take their matriculation exams without fear of being infected. Israel's daily coronavirus cases also remain high, with 7,919 new cases on Tuesday, indicating a 9.3% positivity rate. There are currently 1,074 people hospitalized in serious condition including 292 patients on ventilators. The death toll has also continued to climb, with 31 fatalities on Tuesday bringing the total number of people who have succumbed to the virus to 4,888. According to a poll aired by the Kan public broadcaster, 31% of Israelis were unsure about whether to get the vaccine and 36% worried about its safety. Uncertainty about vaccine effectiveness against some coronavirus strains has stirred speculation that Israel could rescind the exemption from quarantine now accorded to vaccinees. "I think that, naturally, the more we go down from ages at which the risk is higher, more effort has to be made to bring the population out to get vaccinated," coronavirus czar Prof. Nachman Ash said Wednesday. He said several hundred vaccine doses had had to be thrown away after they expired, unused, due to no- shows at clinics. Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kisch told 103 FM radio station that children aged between 12 and 16 may be vaccinated starting in April, pending regulatory approval, but that including the under 12s "will take at least another year." The government was due to convene Wednesday to decide on how and when to ease the restrictions of the country's third lockdown. The Health Ministry has advocated for restrictions to remain in place until late Sunday at least, while Defense Minister Benny Gantz wanted to see some measures lifted as early as Friday morning. Labor makes a comeback in latest election poll, giving anti-Netanyahu bloc clear majority Haaretz | Feb. 2, 2021 An election poll published Tuesday shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu's Likud party losing some support, while the bloc of parties seeking to replace him after Israel's March 23 election is growing to 66 out of 120 Knesset seats. 1 According the Channel 13 News poll, Likud would get 29 seats – three down from the network's previous poll, released last week. Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid is down two seats from the previous poll, taking it to 16 seats. Labor seems to continue to gain confidence under the leadership of its new chairwoman, Merav Michaeli, and is up to eight seats, according to the poll. Yesh Atid and Labor, together with Gideon Sa'ar's New Hope, Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu, the Joint List, Meretz and Benny Gantz's Kahol Lavan – all parties that vowed to replace Netanyahu – are predicted to get 66 seats, giving the bloc a clear majority. Likud, together with ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism, would get 44 seats, while Naftali Bennett's Yamina party, which may or may not back Netanyahu after the election, would get 10. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai's The Israelis party would not pass the 3.25-percent electoral threshold, according to the poll, and neither would Tnufa, led by former Yesh Atid's number 2, Ofer Shelah. A potential merger of Labor, The Israelis and Tnufa, according to the poll, would get 11 seats. In the likely scenario in which the United Arab List, which is one of four factions making up the Arab-majority Joint List, runs on its own, the poll predicts it would have just enough votes to clear the electoral threshold, with four Knesset seats. Should far-right parties National Union, Habayit Hayehudi and Otzma Yehudit merge, the joint slate would get six seats, but take Netanyahu's Likud down to 27 and Bennett's Yamina to eight. The Channel 13 poll included 703 respondents; 604 of them are Jewish and 99 are Arabs. The margin of error is 3.7 percent. For Israel's sake, Haredi parties must be kept out power Ben-Dror Yemini| 01.30.21 @ Yediot Achronot It is difficult to express opposition to the relationship between Israel and its Haredi population without slipping into racism and even forms of anti-Semitism. But the Haredi community is currently at the center of public discourse and must be judged according to the facts. But when efforts are made to reduce the spread in their own communities and prevent it from infecting others, the response is often violent. The Sephardi ultra-Orthodox are not involved. They are for the most part in compliance with health regulations, which leaves us with the Ashkenazi sector. It is unclear what portion of that population is involved in the violation of lockdown restrictions and in the violence that we have been witnessing. The Ponevezh Yeshiva is a respected institution with 3,000 students and Chaim Kanievsky is a rabbi with many followers. So the claims that the troublemakers are just a renegade few cannot be taken seriously, even if others in the community may not agree with the rabbis. The recent wave of violence is just the tip of the iceberg in the contentious relations between Haredi Israelis and the rest of the county. This relationship has a long history of strife that began even before the establishment of the state. In 1948, Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion agreed to grant an exemption from military service to 400 yeshiva students per year, despite the dire need for fighting men during the country's War of Independence. Just 20 years later, a parliamentary committee decided to increase that number to 800. But in 1977, after Menachem Begin rose to power as the first Likud prime minister, all restrictions on the number of exemptions were removed as part of his coalition agreement with the ultra-Orthodox parties. Repeated efforts over the years to reach some agreement that would see Haredi men join in the national defense effort have failed. In 1974, just 2.4% of eligible Haredi men were excused from military duty. By 2010, that had increased to 16%. 2 In 2017, the real number of exemptions rose to 11,700 - and this will likely ho even higher. But the Haredi community receives more than a free pass for military service that most Israeli 18-year-olds have to complete. They are also recipients of a government stipend to support them in their Torah studies, and the budget for that has more or less doubled from NIS 638 million ($195 million) it cost in 2014. The Haredi education system refuses to include core curriculum subjects such as math, sciences and languages, but still receives funding from the Education Ministry. Turning a blind eye to this lack of education can only cause long-term damage. "Children who receive a third world education can only survive in a third world society," professors Dan Ben- David and Eyal Kimchi wrote in a report submitted to the National Economic Council. They warned in the report that the long-term cost to the country and the Haredi community itself would be devastating. Without a review of the ultra-Orthodox community's relations with the state, we are surely marching towards the abyss. The recent violence, though dominating the news headlines, is but a footnote in an ongoing story. This has long been an impoverished and ill-educated sector of the population that is accustomed to receiving state hand-outs. There is no need to abolish the yeshiva world. Torah students need not be dragged into the military induction centers, but the secular leaders must stop kowtowing to religious powers. Dialogue will not help. Israel needs a government that represents the secular majority and keeps the Haredi politicians away from power. This is the only way to resolve this issue - both for the good of the country and its ultra-Orthodox citizens. Where have all the parties gone? Naomi Chazan, TOI, FEB 1, 2021 This is the busiest week in Israeli politics before election day. In the hours prior to midnight on Thursday — the deadline for the presentation of the lists competing for voter support — some pretenders for office will merge, others may break away from existing alliances, and still others may dissipate into thin air.
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