JERUSALEM (AP) – Forget oil and weapons. Coronavirus vaccines are emerging as the newest currency of choice in the Middle East.
Israel’s reopening of its economy, combined with an obscure prisoner exchange with Syria and the arrival of a batch of vaccines in the Gaza Strip, all underscored how those with access to vaccines have political power in the turbulent region.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been at the forefront of this trend, pinning his hopes for re-election on the success of his campaign to vaccinate Israel’s adult population. At the same time, it offers rewards for those who vaccinate and punishments for those who do not.
Israel has jumped into the world’s fastest vaccination campaign, administering at least one dose to more than half of its 9.3 million inhabitants and the two doses required for about a third in less than two months. In contrast to the long wait observed in Europe and the United States, vaccines are abundant and are available almost on demand to anyone who wants to. The clinics even offered free food and cappuccinos to help attract resistant reluctants to get in and get the vaccine.
Netanyahu’s efforts finally seem to be paying off, and the number of new coronavirus infections and serious cases is dropping. This allowed the government to lift a series of restrictions on Sunday, reopening stores, shopping malls and many schools after a two-month blockade. In the coming weeks, all schools and restaurants are expected to reopen, just in time for the March 23 elections.
“The timing is good for him,” said Gideon Rahat, a political scientist at the Hebrew University of Israel.
Whether it is enough to divert attention from an ongoing corruption trial and the wider economic damage caused by the pandemic is another matter.
Much will depend on Netanyahu’s “agenda setting,” said Rahat. “He will talk about vaccines all the time,” he said, while others will focus on his mistakes last year.
Hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs and businesses during a series of blockades, and there is widespread public anger at the contempt for blocking restrictions by the ultra-Orthodox religious community, one of Netanyahu’s main political allies. Many say that Netanyahu waited too long to close the country’s main airport, allowing variants of rapid spread of the virus to infect the unvaccinated.
Following his script, Netanyahu unveiled his “green pass” program on Saturday, which will allow vaccinees to participate in cultural events, travel abroad and attend restaurants and gyms. These services and amenities will remain prohibited for those who do not get immunized.
“I ask everyone who has not been vaccinated – be vaccinated. You will have the Green Pass and you will also be able to benefit from it, ”said Netanyahu during a photo shoot at a gym in the Tel Aviv area.
Israel faced international criticism for largely excluding Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip from the vaccination campaign.
Still, Netanyahu showed little hesitation in agreeing to pay Russia about $ 1.2 million to buy coronavirus vaccines for the archenemy Syria as part of a deal last week to free a captive Israeli woman in Damascus.
Netanyahu boasted last week that his warm ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin helped close the deal. His office made no mention of any vaccines and reportedly pressured the country’s military censorship to block vaccine purchases.
Asked about the reported deal, Netanyahu was evasive. He said “no Israeli vaccine” has been delivered to Syria – a country that is hostile to Iranian forces. But he did not say whether Israel paid Russia for the vaccines.
“It is legitimate for the Israeli government to decide to deviate from previous rules and pay with another form of currency,” wrote Yoav Limor, an Israeli military affairs correspondent, in Israel Hayom. “However, the decision to hide this is disconcerting and worrying. Obviously, someone was very uncomfortable about seeing this issue come up.”
However, Netanyahu does not appear to be discouraged. An Israeli official said on Sunday that Israel is considering sharing surplus vaccines with friendly nations. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing internal government deliberations.
The disparities between the success of Israel’s vaccination with its own population and the Palestinians have drawn criticism from UN officials and human rights groups and have illuminated the inequalities between rich and poor countries in access to vaccines.
These groups claim that Israel is responsible for vaccinating Palestinians, while Israel argued that, under interim peace agreements, it is not responsible for vaccinating them. Israel’s vaccination campaign included its own Arab population.
Ahmad Tibi, a prominent Arab legislator in the Israeli parliament, wrote on Twitter: “Should we expect a Jew to cross the border with Gaza so that he deserves vaccines?”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been fighting to secure vaccines for his people. So far, he has received 2,000 doses from Israel to treat medical workers in the West Bank and 10,000 doses from Russia.
One of Abbas’s main rivals on Sunday orchestrated the delivery of 20,000 doses of the United Arab Emirates’ Russian Sputnik V vaccine. The action of Mohammed Dahlan, a former Abbas aide forced into exile after a disagreement with the Palestinian leader, seemed to partly aim to make Abbas appear weak before the parliamentary elections scheduled for May.
Dahlan, who is supporting a list of supporters in the election, “strengthened his political position and presence” with the handover, said Mustafa Ibrahim, a Gaza-based writer. “It is part of the campaign and trains the group that delivers the aid.”
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AP correspondents Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem and Fares Akram in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, contributed reports.