Battle of restaurants • Limiting the number of diners to 50 has angered restaurant owners

• Dining in a restaurant in Jerusalem

  Photo: 

  Oren Ben Hakun

The Corona Commission's apparent decision to limit the number of restaurant guests to 50 people, upset the restaurants - threatening not to open the restaurants and dismissing the employees. Of that, "says Restaurant Association CEO Shai Berman.

He says, "In the end, restaurants are a place where people sit. It's a solid pastime. We don't dance. They come in clear capsules from home or work, so there is no indication, neither the Ministry of Health nor anyone, that the restaurants are a source of contamination that needs to be addressed." 

He adds that "any additional restriction beyond the existing restrictions, if talking about delusional numbers like up to 50 places or things of that nature, will result in a complete shutdown of businesses and the entire industry. You have to understand that. "And we will eat it. We will just shut down all businesses and rid the employees, because the reality is such that it will not allow us to follow a reasonable economic model under such restrictions."

Tom Spring, chef and owner of Coco Group, says: "If the move comes to fruition, it means a death sentence for the world of restaurants and cafes in the State of Israel. If the government decides to do so, we demand that they provide relief in property taxes, taxes, social security, and rent. According to Aviv, "It is important to make it clear that the number of people who are infected in restaurants according to official data aims to zero, and I do not understand why we are the last to return and the first to be hurt again."

Harel Blue of Sitara Hilton and Peeps adds that "the move is an accurate recipe for the collapse of the industry. There is no financial feasibility for restaurants to work for 50 people." Bello claims that "the very act will lose the effect of the entertainment and culinary experience, and I urge the government to think again before making such fateful decisions and to enforce in the right places to stop the wave of contagion we are experiencing these days."

"There is no logic"

Yariv Malili, the owner of Thai House and Keb Kam, says: "It makes no sense during the course. The state and the decision makers do not care about us, they received a salary and will continue to receive. I have not received one shekel compensation so far and they continue the same way. In essence, no matter the amount of people in the space, but keeping the rules, keeping the distance between the people, keeping the hygiene and wearing masks. " 

He said, "If the rules are not adhered to then the spread is inevitable. It's all about the social discipline of each and every person."