“I think it is obligatory to allow decision-makers to continue to talk about urgent issues, not non-public issues,” he said, and promised to continue the national effort to combat the virus epidemic anyway.
Earlier on Wednesday, Barbash warned that if the main points of his appointment were not approved at night, he would leave his job, according to Hebrew media. Edelstein objected to giving Barbash broad powers and sought out Barbash to report to his office, according to reports.
Barbash’s appointment will be announced through a press convention Tuesday night, and many media outlets reported hours earlier that the deal had been closed.
Edelstein announced earlier this month he would appoint someone to lead the country’s handling of the pandemic, amid growing criticism of the Health Ministry’s ability to contain the outbreak. On Sunday, the Health Ministry dismissed a report that Barbash was tapped for the post as “gossip,” saying Edelstein was still vetting several candidates for the job.
Barbash, 70, was CEO of Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital from 1993 to 2015, with a term as Director General of the Ministry of Health from 1996 to 1999. In recent months, he has a family public figure as a commentator on the nightly news of Channel 12, basically about the pandemic.
There is no single user who manages the existing crusade before Gamzu’s appointment. The effort is led by the National Security Council and overseen by the government and a special cupboard known as coronavirus of the relevant ministers, as well as through the Knesset Coronavirus Committee.
Since Israel lifted a lock that carried the infections to double digits, the country has struggled to involve a wave of the virus that brought the figure to about 2000. There has been a growing public complaint and anger over the government’s handling of the crisis. Ministers are divided on how to handle the epidemic and restrictions on the public in an effort to curb the spread.
Barbash has publicly criticized the government for not involving the virus’s resurgence, saying that steps may have been taken to save it from the situation in which more than 30,000 people are infected.
Earlier this month, he told the Times of Israel that the government had failed to take preventive measures and had also relaxed restrictions in April and early May because it had not resisted public pressure.
There were 32,345 active cases of coronavirus in Israel on Wednesday night, with 273 Israelis in severe condition, 78 of them with fans. There were still 120 other people in moderate condition, while the others had mild symptoms or had no symptoms.
There were two more deaths on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 430, the ministry said, and 23,310 Israelis recovered from the virus.
The Health Ministry said 30,176 COVID-19 tests were conducted on Tuesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ministry of Health figures showed 2,136 new instances in the last 24 hours, the overall day since the start of the pandemic.