The corona virus crisis in Israel is reaching new heights, with increasing numbers of identified patients almost every day, the hospitals filling up and IC units being overwhelmed. But there still doesn’t seem to be a consensus among the people who are supposed to lead us, that it is time to let the professionals do their job. The corona czar, (or projector as he is being called now) is still being confronted on a daily basis with egocentric politicians who will do anything to prevent measures that will affect their constituencies or are against their narrow interests or those of the ones that control them. Politicians will say and proclaim anything no matter how absurd, as long as it serves their purpose. And the result among the population is obvious. People are either confused, brainwashed, or have lost all confidence in their leadership. The confused among us, do not know anymore who to believe and thus will believe nobody. The brainwashed will believe whatever their operators (the word leader is “misleading” here) will tell them, and will do as they are told, while the ones that have lost confidence will try and make their own assessments and decisions. In short, an incredible mess will result and we are definitely in a mess now.
Let’s look at some of the absurdities that have resulted in this mess.
The educational system has to be started up and many efforts were put in by the professionals at the Education ministry to come to a workable situation, whereby children will get the education they need under reasonably safe corona conditions. A system was put in place that also had the approval of Professor Gamzu, and besides some relatively small issues such as allowing parents into the school on the first day of the year to see off their kids, and the problem of teachers that have an increased risk, the schools could reopen reasonably safe. But the “Traffic Light” plan, designed by Gamzu and approved by the government, whereby towns and cities are classified from green to red, depending on the number of patients, clearly states that schools will not open in Red towns and cities.
This did not go down very well with the Education minister, general Gallant (who I am sure is an expert both on the corona virus and Education), and he happily proclaimed that the “Red Cities” are fiction and closing the school system in these is useless. In the end the government did decide to not allow the opening of the schools in the Red Cities (at least for three days), but shouldn’t the decision have been accompanied at least by a strong rebuke of Gallants utterances, and probably with a notice of his dismissal?
Even more incredible is the saga called “Uman”. Every year large numbers of Hasidim from the Breslov sect travel to Uman in the Ukraine, to celebrate the Jewish New Year. The celebrations are held in tight crowds and the housing conditions of most of these pilgrims are often abominable (I heard it describe as “rental by the bed”). In short, excellent conditions for massive infection with the Corona virus, which will be brought back to Israel and happily distributed among the population that stayed behind. Professor Gamzu, has been demanding from the start that this year the pilgrimage to Uman should not be allowed to take place, and when he (for all the political reasons) did not get the backing of the government on this, he himself turned to the authorities in Ukraine and wrote a letter to the Ukrainian President, explaining the dangers, which subsequently resulted in the closure of the Ukrainian borders to foreigners (including the Breslov sect). But, the Breslov sect does not take “no” for an answer and through circumvent and dubious methods, thousands managed to reach Uman anyway. And if that is not enough of a scandal, the political heat that Netanyahu felt from the Haredi partners in his government, forced him to set up a “committee” to examine the ways the travel to Uman could be taking place anyway. Zeev Elkin, the minister of Higher Education and Water Resources(!) was made in charge of this committee. In the meantime, the Ukrainian government tightened its decision and it now seems impossible to travel to Uman, no matter what Elkin comes up with, but we really need the Ukrainian government to save us from a probable health disaster? Apparently we do because it was clear that our own government had no intention of following the advice of the medical experts and prevent the pilgrimage.
Even worse, the whole “Uman Affair” was abused by politicians to vent their frustration over Gamzu and his suggestions, and they grabbed for the ultimate weapon: Antisemitism. Miki Zohar, the Coalition Chairman and Netanyahu’s leading bloodhound, came up with the incredible notion that the Breslov Hasidim that managed to get into Ukraine, are subject to antisemitism because of Gamzu’s interference, with Elkin adding that the Gamzu letter has become a hit among anti-Semites in Ukraine and beyond, and it may end in bloodshed. While we are already used to the fact that the Elkins and the Zohars in our lives do not have the slightest sense of shame, is there no one among our “leaders” that is willing or able to stand up and demand to put a stop to the debasement of the Corona Projector?
A third, no less amazingly scandalous event was the utterance of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, that Yeshiva students should refuse to be tested for the Corona virus because it will result in Yehiva closures and quarantines, which would cause a “massive damage to Torah studies”! And Kanievsky is not just some small town rabbi but one of the foremost leaders of the Ultra-orthodox Jewry in Israel so his word is for many also the law. Apparently for Kanievsky, a “massive damage to Torah studies”, is much worse than a “massive damage to Public Health”. The number of Yeshiva students that have contracted the virus is disproportionally high already and with this utterly irresponsible behavior from one of their leaders it is no doubt going to get much worse. And it will not be confined to the Haredi community only.
The simple conclusion to all this is: It is up to US. We need to stop being confused or brainwashed and forget about confidence in our leadership. We need to step up and take back the control over our lives and our health. The demonstrations to have Netanyahu removed are important and serve the overall purpose but it is not enough. And no, Miki Zohar, they are not spreading the virus, no matter how often you say it. The main thing it spreads is the awareness that Netanyahu (and his minions) need to go and the sooner the better. And that includes you.
We the people need to stand up, take responsibility and start abiding by the rules that our experts have outlined for us. Abide by the (unpleasant) limitations. Use the uncomfortable facemask. Keep the unnatural social distance, was your hands even though they don’t appear dirty. A massive effort by us, the people, will get this plague under control. Without the “help” of Miki Zohar. Without the nonsense of Zeev Elkin. Without the chicanery of Netanyahu.
And also without the help of the Ukrainian Government.
