The letter proves: The request of the head of the National Security Council regarding vaccines affected not only the Palestinians, but the whole world • Spokesman: We dealt only with the Palestinians
Vaccines for corona in the Gaza Strip // Photo: AFP
In response to a publication in "Israel Today" about the processes that led to the halting of the program to distribute vaccines against the corona to various countries in the world, Mandelblit sent a sharp denial response to all media.
According to his response, he confirmed that in early January, the head of the National Security Council, Meir Ben-Shabbat, also sent him a letter dealing with the delivery of vaccines to foreign sources. However, according to Mandelblit, Ben-Shabbat's appeal concerned the distribution of vaccines to Palestinians, not other countries.
According to Mandelblit, "The letter from the head of the National Security Council in January mentioned in the article was sent against the background of the Goldin family's petition regarding the transfer of vaccines, mainly from foreign sources, to the Palestinian arena and between the PA and Gaza." The State of Israel to foreign countries. "
However, the full text of the letter received by "Israel Today" shows that as we published, the directive of the head of the National Security Council concerned all countries in the world, and not only the Palestinians. "We request that the transfer of vaccines to the Palestinian arena (as to any non-Israeli state) be approved. In advance of the Prime Minister "(the parentheses originally), said in a letter addressed to all parties involved in the issue of vaccines, including the Adviser, the Ministers of Defense, Health and Foreign Affairs, and the Coordinator of Government Operations in Judea and Samaria.
The Adviser's Office said in response that "the addition to the letter (which was written in parentheses and margins anyway) did not at all concern the circumstances of the petition that was in the background of his letter. The letter from the head of the National Security Council. , After examining things by the ministries and competent bodies involved.
These are completely different circumstances. "
Working in the dark
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Zvi Hauser (New Hope), attacks Prime Minister Netanyahu for handing over the vaccines to the Palestinians, without receiving any consideration from them.
In response to a publication in Israel Today, Hauser says that "Netanyahu is trying to disguise, as part of the transfer of vaccines to friendly countries, the transfer of vaccines to the heads of the Palestinian Authority and the leaders of Hamas in Gaza. Abu Mazen in the Israeli elections. "
He added: "The proximity between the transfer of vaccines to the Palestinians and the exposed contacts of the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, filled with PLO officials, raises serious questions about how decisions are made regarding vaccines in the Palestinian context."