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As he moved to curb the pandemic, Dr. Ronni Gamzu continued to hit his head with ultra-Orthodox leaders. Then Israel’s main virus fighter suddenly weakened.
By David M. Halbfinger and Isabel Kershner
JERUSALEM – For 3 fleeting days, he gave the impression that Israel had effectively restarted its flawed battle against the coronavirus.
Then politics came into play.
Last July, a former Tel Aviv hospital administrator, Dr. Ronni Gamzu, was anointed with the country’s virus tsar and with a little luck took him away. Recognizing the mistakes of the past government, he recruited the army to take the duty to search for contacts and pleaded with the Israelis to take the risk seriously and wear their masks.
He also promised to repair public confidence, an un easy responsibility of municipal officials, while replacing the ever-zigzagging dictates of central government with undeniable commands that anyone, it seems, can perceive and accept.
Last Thursday, Dr. Gamzu obtained the approval of the cupboard for a plan on traffic lighting devices to impose strict closures in “red” cities with the worst epidemics, while easiing restrictions on “green” cities where the virus claims fewer lives. or at least delay, some other national economic blockade.
On Sunday, however, Dr. Gamzu looked more like a victim.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders who felt their network was stigmatized rebelled against the soft traffic plan. This time, however, they did not bother to attack Dr. Gamzu, but directed his anger towards his most vital supporter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
And Netanyahu, under fierce public tension from one of its most important districts, yielded to the lockout plan.
Forget the toughest new restrictions in red cities, announced Sunday night. Instead, he and Dr. Gamzu took a diluted curfew at night, all that Arab mayors had proposed to giant marriages, but that even Dr. Gamzu later stated would have little effect on ultra-Orthodox communities.
Netanyahu and Dr. Gamzu took turns in front of a microphone on Monday to assign the unit. Netanyahu insisted that he had not yet given up, he was just doing what the professionals had recommended to him. Gamzu insisted that even though his professional recommendations had been blocked, he was determined to continue.
But the result for Israel is a grim prospect: the pandemic has multiplied, with israel’s number of new cases close to the worst in the world in line with the capita. However, the chances of avoiding your march are reduced as the wonderful Jewish holy days approach.
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