Israel returns to normal after a year of pandemic as lockdown is reimposed in Palestine

Israel has returned this Sunday to almost full normality by completing the de-escalation after more than two months of confinement.

Only the uniform sight of masked passers-by on the streets of Jerusalem recalled that a year has passed since the pandemic was declared.

Just 20 kilometers to the north, neighboring Ramallah was also returning to the past of a year ago, with its entire province perimeter and under a curfew.

While in the Holy City cafes and restaurants were reopening after six months of closure, in the administrative headquarters of the Palestinian Authority all the premises except pharmacies and bakeries remained closed.

More than half of Israel's 9.3 million people have already been immunized against COVID-19 with at least one dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine.

The 5.2 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have so far only received 2,000 doses of Moderna and 20,000 of Sputnik V.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared coffee and pastries with Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion on a terrace in the city to celebrate the end of the lockdown.

"The hospitality industry has come back to life, but we have to continue wearing masks and maintain a safe distance," the head of government, who faces the final stretch of the campaign for legislative elections called in two weeks, told Reuters.

The fines for failing to comply with health orders amount to 5,000 shequels (about 1,250 euros).

Speaking to the radio, the national coordinator for the pandemic, the medical specialist in public health Nachman Ash, expressed his concern about the recent spike in cases due to the de-escalation, and warned that he will not hesitate to backtrack and reimpose restrictions "even before the voting day ”.

The reopening of bars and restaurants, which closed in September except to serve home orders or take-out, will be subject to capacity limitations and separation between customers.

Israel also launches a differentiated access model.

Holders of the "green pass", a vaccination certificate with the two doses of Pfizer, will have a free path into the premises, while the non-immunized will only have the option of sitting on outdoor terraces.

After being applied in gyms, hotels and sports or cultural centers, the directive to favor and promote vaccination also extends to university campuses to complete the reopening of the entire educational system.

Students with a “green pass” will be able to attend face-to-face classes at the faculties;

the others must follow the academic year remotely.

Health segregation has opened a debate on the protection of citizens' rights in a non-compulsory vaccination model.

"Whoever does not want to be vaccinated will be left behind," Health Minister Yuli Edelstein recently warned.

Leading technology companies such as Mobileye, which develops driving systems for autonomous vehicles, have announced that they will ban unvaccinated employees from entering their facilities, who will be able to telework if their job profiles allow it.

In the West Bank, under Israeli occupation since 1967, the Palestinian Authority on Thursday declared a state of emergency throughout the territory after registering an unprecedented rate of 2,000 infections a day and hospitalizations for serious cases spilling.

Perimeter isolation and curfew were imposed on Saturday in the provinces of Ramala (center) and Nablus (north) for at least a week, according to Efe.

Citizens may only move on foot within their districts or towns of residence, without using vehicles.

Food shops will also close their doors, except for two days a week.

Palestinian officials rely on the World Health Organization's Covax assistance program to receive more than 37,000 doses of Pfizer and 168,000 of AstraZeneca in the next three months.

The Palestinian Authority has requested two million doses from the latter laboratory for two months, the shipment of which has been delayed due to apparent logistical problems.

Vaccination of Palestinian workers

Israel has suspended until Monday the vaccination of Palestinian workers in Israeli companies and in the settlements of settlers in the West Bank.

The government has alleged "budgetary difficulties" to immunize the 120,000 Palestinian employees, according to the

Haaretz

newspaper

.

The program had started on a pilot basis on Thursday, with the vaccination of 700 workers at a checkpoint near Tulkarem, on the dividing wall and fences around the Green Line of territorial separation.

The infection rate is still relatively high in Israel, with 4% positive cases in coronavirus tests, but most of the new infected are young people - 47%, under 19 years old - who tend to face the disease with a mild prognosis.

With nine out of 10 people over 50 already vaccinated, the Ministry of Health confirms that only 11% of those infected are now over that age.

• Israel agrees with Denmark and Austria a fund to develop vaccines outside the EU

The guards who take the temperature of those who intend to enter an official building or a shopping center have already stopped operating in the Jewish state.

"The reality of Israel has changed and the lifting of restrictions does not carry the same danger now as in spring or autumn," says analyst Sever Plocker in the daily

Yedioth Ahronoth

.

The average Israeli could already live in a theoretical herd immunity, if the communities most reluctant to be vaccinated and the sectors excluded from protection against COVID-19 were ruled out.

The mantra chanted by Netanyahu, who often boasts to visiting foreign dignitaries of having immunized 90% of the population, fades like a mirage if Arabs (20% of the census), ultra-Orthodox Jews (12%) are excluded. ), residents abroad (10%) and, above all, those under 16 years of age (30%), for whom there is still no antidote available to the coronavirus poison.