Israel is the first country in the world to impose a second full lockdown to control the coronavirus outbreak after failing to minimize the spread. On Sunday, September 13th, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that schools, shops, hotels, and shopping centers will have enforced restrictions again on Friday, the eve of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah.
In March, Israelis and Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories seemed to have contained COVID-19 outbreaks after imposing strict measures during the first wave of the infection, with each reporting only a few dozen new cases a day. However, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to reopen much of the country in order to revive business activity and recover the economy. As Israel lifted its lockdown, the social distancing restrictions ended by mid-May.
The government completely abandoned the plans for a gradual return to school in small controlled groups. All grades abruptly returned to their institutions. Parks and gardens opened, and gatherings of under 50 people were once again allowed. Many Israeli citizens were led to believe that life was going back to normal, which resulted in a steady uptick in cases of COVID-19 over the past months.
According to the latest figures from the Israeli Health Ministry last week, more than 4,000 new cases were recorded in a single day in Israel. The United Nations also explained that the number of Palestinians testing positive for COVID-19 continues to increase in the occupied Palestinian territories. Since August, the West Bank -including East Jerusalem- has averaged 406 cases per day, with 5,287 new cases.
The COVID-19 outbreak is not only affecting Israelis, it is also having an impact on Palestinian citizens in the occupied territories. Palestinian workers still choose to work in Israel and risk their lives for their wages during a particularly financially challenging time, which left Palestinians with no control over their resources.
In May, an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority allowed about 40,000 Palestinians from the occupied territory to return to work in Israel. This effort came in the time of easing restrictions that were in place to control the spread of COVID-19 in Israel. Aljazeera stated that about two-thirds of the infections that happened in the Occupied Palestinian territory came from workers and those who were around them.
Right now, many Israelis have little trust in Netanyahu and his government after failing to handle the epidemic. Many Israelis and Palestinians, who do not expect much from their occupiers, are frustrated with the current situation that could have been avoided if Netanyahu and his government had taken the right measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. Rushing to reopen the country was not a wise decision, and led to a sharp escalation in the number of new Covid-19 in the country in recent weeks.
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