Israel will close its only major airport for a week in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus and prevent new variants that are emerging.
The Washington Post reports that Israel’s cabinet agreed on Sunday to stop all entries and exits from Ben Gurion International Airport until at least the end of January. Cargo flights, medical evacuations and “fire-fighting flights” will be exempt from the rule.
“No nation has done what we are about to do – we are hermetically sealing the country,” said the Israeli prime minister. Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin (Bibi) NetanyahuMORE. “We do this to prevent mutations from entering the virus and to ensure that we move forward quickly with our vaccination campaign.”
The rule will extend to Jewish immigrants traveling to the country under the Law of Return, reports the Post.
The most infectious British variant of the coronavirus has been detected in Israel, reports the Post, contributing to Israel’s decision to isolate itself from the world. Another new strain has been discovered and is believed to have originated in South Africa.
The Post notes that Israel excelled in administering doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, with 27 percent of its population receiving the first dose. However, the country has received international condemnation for refusing to provide vaccines to Palestinians in its 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 people on the other are not, based on whether they are Jews or Palestinians,” said the director of Israel and Palestine in the Human Rights Watch (HRW) Omar Shakir in a statement.
“Everyone in the same territory must have equal access to the vaccine, regardless of their ethnicity.”
Palestinian leaders have declared that they cannot afford to pay for coronavirus vaccines. Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said Israel is not responsible for providing vaccines to Palestinians, but acknowledged that it would be in Israel’s interest to do so. However, Edelstein said that all vaccines supplied to Palestine would come after Israel’s population had been vaccinated.