Israel - vaccination aid for Palestinians: "We have a moral and humanitarian obligation"

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Is now vaccinated: A Palestinian in Bethlehem

Photo: Nasser Nasser / dpa

No country in the world vaccinates as quickly as Israel: six weeks after the start of its vaccination campaign, more than one and every third Israeli has received a first dose.

Almost two of the nine million inhabitants are already fully immunized.

The vaccination is also available to Arab Israelis, i.e. Palestinians who live in places that Israel officially counts as its national territory.

This includes, for example, East Jerusalem - but not the West Bank, although parts of the region have been occupied by Israel since the Six Day War in 1967.

The fact that the Israeli settlers are vaccinated there, but not the Palestinians in the surrounding communities, has met international criticism.

The Israeli medical lawyer Shelly Kamin-Friedman has now written a report on behalf of two human rights organizations in which she speaks out in favor of the "right to vaccination" for Palestinians.

To person

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Dr.

Shelly Kamin-Friedman

, 48, is an attorney and expert in medical and health law.

She teaches at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva and at Haifa University.

SPIEGEL

: Ms. Kamin-Friedman, Israel has announced that it will deliver 5,000 doses of Covid vaccine to the Palestinian Authority for the first time.

Is that enough?

Kamin-Friedman

: Of course not.

Around three million Palestinians live in the West Bank, and another two million in the Gaza Strip.

The 5,000 doses aren't even enough to vaccinate medical staff, let alone the rest of the population.

SPIEGEL

: Israel says it can only help with vaccines if the Palestinian leadership officially requests it.

That didn't happen.

At first, the Palestinians even announced that they absolutely did not want vaccines from Israel.

Kamin-Friedman

: I'm a public health expert.

And as such I am convinced that we have a moral and humanitarian obligation to support the Palestinians with vaccines.

Israel should at least offer it - then the Palestinians could still decide whether they want our help.

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Will soon be a reality in many places in Israel: people with masks and double vaccinations

Photo: Ariel Schalit / dpa

Whether Israel is legally responsible for vaccinating the Palestinians is controversial.

Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch hold Israel accountable as an "occupying power".

In fact, while Israel has sovereignty over most of the borders and part of the West Bank, it does not control the Gaza Strip.

Israel, on the other hand, relies on the so-called Oslo Agreement, according to which the Palestinian Authority is responsible for the health care of its citizens.

Both sides are hostile to each other, there is hardly any coordination or exchange.

SPIEGEL

: How could this help look in concrete terms?

Kamin-Friedma

n: Israel should finance and provide vaccine, but also help logistically, for example with maintaining the cold chains.

The Palestinians could also bring the vaccine to the Gaza Strip, where Israel has no access.

These steps would also be in our own interest.

SPIEGEL

: Why?

Kamin-Friedman

: The Palestinians and we are neighbors, we have regular contact.

Many Palestinians work in Israel.

The coronavirus doesn't stop at borders.

If we want to achieve herd immunity - I prefer to call it community immunity, because we are not animals - we have to vaccinate both sides - Israelis and Palestinians.

More than 120,000 Palestinians from the West Bank work on Israeli territory or in the settlements.

The Israeli vaccination program excludes them so far.

At the beginning of February, Covax, the World Health Organization's vaccination initiative, announced that it would soon be delivering tens of thousands of vaccine doses to the Palestinians.

In addition, the Palestinian Authority tried to get the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.

SPIEGEL

: Do you think Israel will get involved?

Kamin-Friedman

: I know there are talks - but because of the political situation, they are confidential.

I think now is a good time: a large part of the Israeli population has already been vaccinated.

Israel can be proud of its program because we leave no one behind: For example, refugees should be vaccinated in the same way as Israelis.

But we shouldn't forget the Palestinians.

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