The plan: to distribute to 20 countries modern vaccines that are not intended for use in Israel, in exchange for political gain • The initiative: After representatives from countries around the world asked Netanyahu for vaccines, "even a few thousand" • Defense Minister Ganz initially supported, but later changed his position. From "Running in the Dark"
Some would say that the plan to distribute vaccines against the corona to foreign countries around the world could have been a beautiful time for the State of Israel.
But what appeared to be political eye-popping interrupted the plan with hostility, and it is doubtful whether it will be implemented at all.
Now the details are revealed: this is how the operation was conducted - and failed.
Photo: Reuters
The details of the program that was stopped came to Israel Today.
According to them, as early as the beginning of January, the National Security Council (National Security Office in the Prime Minister's Office) informed Defense Minister Bnei Gantz, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been addressing the issue. Various on the issue, until two weeks ago the defense minister changed his position on the plan - and began to claim that "Netanyahu is operating in the dark."
Shortly after it became known that Israel had obtained a huge stock of vaccines, foreign countries began to apply to receive them.
As early as December 29, 20, about a week after the world media began to report on the "miracle of Israeli vaccines," the first request reached the National Security Council. It came up in a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Netanyahu and one of the leaders of the countries he is in contact with. Thousands of the vaccines. More and more similar inquiries have reached Israeli ambassadors around the world, the Mossad, the National Security Council and Netanyahu himself.
A special request came from Defense Minister Bnei Gantz regarding the multinational force in Sinai, which oversees the observance of peace agreements between Israel and Egypt.
At the same time, it became clear that 100 Pfizer vaccines had been handed over to the Palestinian Authority, without the approval of the National Security Council. The Coordinator of Government Operations in the Occupied Territories (UNHCR), subordinate to Ganz, received approval from Health Minister Yuli Edelstein.
The National Security Council, which coordinated the treatment of the corona crisis, was unaware of this and was very embarrassed; this is because the state, in its response to the Goldin family's petition to the High Court against the transfer of vaccines to Gaza, stated that no vaccines were given to Palestinians.
In practice, it became clear, as stated, that the vaccines were also delivered, without the approval of the relevant bodies at the political level.
Following this, the head of the National Security Council, Meir Ben Shabbat, sent a letter, in which he clarified that the Prime Minister is the sole body that approves the delivery of vaccines to foreign parties, and that the National Security Council is coordinating work on the issue. Ben-Shabbat demanded in a letter dated January 7, which was sent to the Attorney General, the Ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs and Health, the IDF and all the military secretaries.
"At the beginning of January, the contribution of vaccines abroad was known, and the Prime Minister and the National Security Council "The request for the vaccines also comes from the Minister of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the source told Israel Today.
Everything was known, and no one expressed any reservations. "
Formulation of the list
In view of the accumulation of requests from the various bodies, the head of the National Security Council, Ben Shabbat, decided to hold a staff meeting, which will determine which countries will receive the vaccines and to what extent. The criteria were assigned to two division heads - Reuven Ezer, who is in charge of the Western world
And Maoz, a former GSS official who coordinates with countries that do not officially recognize Israel. At the end of January, the indices were formulated and a list of countries to which Israel would respond was formulated. It was decided that the vaccines would be given according to each country's morbidity and independence. Israel in exchange for its readiness for assistance, for example, was added to the list by Mauritania, a country that does not officially recognize Israel, but the National Insurance Institute estimated that it might move to normalization if it received vaccines.
It was also decided that Israel would only deliver vaccines that it had purchased from a modern company.
This is a relatively small amount, of a quarter of a million doses, which in any case was not intended to be distributed in Israel - since using them would disrupt the collection of information carried out by Pfizer in Israel on the effectiveness of its vaccines.
It should be noted that the validity of modern vaccines is expected to expire within about three months, so the need arose to find them a target population urgently.
Furthermore, the amount delivered was limited to no more than 5,000 vaccines per country.
In total, the National Insurance Institute approved the delivery of 46,000 modern vaccines to 20 countries. It was also determined that each country that receives the vaccines will pay for them and for the shipment. First, the National Insurance Institute asked to make sure the Pfizer vaccines were safe and sufficient for all Israeli citizens;
Later, a "vaccine war" developed between the European Union and Britain, and Ben Shabbat feared that the distribution of vaccines would harm Israel's international status.
When these problems were solved, it was decided to set out.
From Mauritania to Rwanda
On February 14, Ben-Shabbat again sent a letter to the foreign and health ministers and to the Mossad, detailing the list of countries that would receive the vaccine.
At the Foreign Ministry, everything was harnessed, from the level of the CEO and below. The list included San Marino, Ethiopia, Chad, Mauritania, Slovakia, Cyprus and Hungary. Before Ben Shabbat decided last week to ask for clarification from the ombudsman.
Defense Minister Bnei Gantz and other sources began to claim that Netanyahu "trades in the dark in vaccines of Israeli citizens who were paid from their tax money without account," adding that such a move requires discussion and approval.
If Ganz himself is the one who asked the National Security Council in January to approve vaccines for the multinational force in Sinai, as is clear from the correspondence received by "Israel Today" - it is not clear why he decided at the end of February that a cabinet meeting was required.
From the moment the ombudsman's investigation began, the distribution of vaccines abroad was stopped, and as things stand now, things will not be renewed any time soon. Contrary to Ganz, Mandelblit wrote that the law does not clarify who is authorized to distribute vaccines,
Regarding the concentration of decision-making in the National Security Council, the sources involved in the details say that there is no difference between this decision and other decisions at the National Security Headquarters. " A government or cabinet meeting, and the other ministries were in touch anyway, so nothing was done in the dark. "
"The difference is that this time the cost to Israel is nil," says the insider.
Ganz: The Prime Minister is trying to get around
Minister Gantz's office said in a response that "the fact that the Prime Minister has declared himself the center of the issue of vaccines, does not give him the authority to manage them as in the market.
Just as he tried to hide arms deals and political agreements, so Netanyahu is trying to circumvent the usual mechanisms.
If there is a political or security need, he is welcome to present it to the relevant forum that will make a decision. "
