Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recommends the Israeli public not to make non-essential trips abroad

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recommends that the Israeli public not make non-essential trips abroad.
During a tour of Ben Gurion Airport, Bennett said that there may be significant changes in the policy of departure and entry into Israel. "If you have not yet booked a flight abroad and you do not have to - do not book," he said. "Whoever does not have to go abroad - who did not go. This is not a guideline but a recommendation. Travel the country. The contagion incident in Binyamina originated in a family returning from a vacation in Cyprus, not a red country - and became infected. We will strengthen domestic tourism. I also turn to domestic tourism people from here - you will be welcoming and you will take care of equal prices for everyone. "
Referring to the morbidity figures of recent days, he said: "We have decided to treat them as a new outbreak and we want to interrupt it early. Let us avoid mass incidents, and let everyone exercise common sense and responsibility towards themselves and their children." He updated that from this moment, everyone who enters Ben Gurion Airport - from the moment of entry until departure - is required to put on a mask.
The tour was also attended by Minister of Transportation Meirav Michaeli; Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz; Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and Internal Security Minister Amar Bar-Lev.
Bennett arrived at Ben Gurion Airport after the default last Friday, when thousands of passengers who landed at Ben Gurion Airport were released to their homes without performing a corona check at the airport, as required by the guidelines.
Pemi-Premium, which began operating in the testing complex for incoming passengers only last week, did not set up enough samples for the benefit of passengers, even though it was known that it was a time of stress before Shabbat, of multiple flights landing. The result was huge queues that extended to the customs compound and created a high density. Following this, the management of the Ministry of Health decided to exempt from vaccination vaccinated passengers who returned from countries that are not defined as high-risk.

Despite the bans and despite the warnings, huge numbers of passengers enter Israel from countries where the corona is raging - which could put us all in danger, with the fear of introducing new variants of the virus in the background.
The Ministry of Health has compiled a list of countries that are considered to be at risk of infection in Corona, and as a result flights to and from them are not recommended or prohibited. These countries are divided according to different levels of danger, from those who receive a "travel warning", through a "severe warning" (ie, who are on the verge of a flight ban), to a "destination at maximum risk" - flights to countries so defined for citizens and permanent residents From Israel they are prohibited, unless approved by an Exceptions Committee.
Among the countries defined as a "maximum risk target" is Russia. But now, according to data obtained by Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth, it appears that no less than 4,874 people landed in Israel from Russia in the last month alone - and 31 of them were also found positive for Corona. This is a verified rate of 0.64%, the highest measured for a single country in this time period.
And if that's not enough, then according to Ben Gurion Airport's flight schedule, no less than 16 flights from Moscow are expected to land in Israel in the coming week. The Ministry of Health has chosen not to transfer the number of passengers authorized to travel to countries at maximum risk. To give permission - if at all possible - to close to 5,000 people to travel and return from a country where the danger of infection is so high, and the Ministry of Health did not answer the question about the number of passengers who landed last month from the forbidden country.
Other countries that the Ministry of Health prohibits travel to, without a permit, are Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico and India - the only country other than Russia with which Israel has a direct airline, and according to Ben Gurion Airport's flight schedule the route to Delhi is still active B) A flight from the city is expected to land.
In addition, according to data obtained by Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth, 681 passengers landed in Ethiopia last month, a country for which there is a "severe warning", and three of them were found blue. Also from the Maldives, for whom a "severe warning" was issued, 337 people landed, and one was a blue nation. A total of 10,653 people have landed in the past month from countries with "severe warnings", of which 24 have been verified.
Passengers from countries to which "travel warning" is attached also landed: Georgia (11,763 passengers, four verified), Ukraine (2,866 passengers, unverified), Belarus (1,678 passengers, eight verified) and Egypt (1,305 passengers, unverified). Although all pilots are required to present a negative corona test before boarding and repeat it upon landing, over the past month 174 positive people have been found within ten days of landing - that is, such a test alone may not be enough to protect the country from infection.
The people in charge of the treatment at Ben Gurion Airport at the Ministry of Health are the director general of the ministry, Prof. Hezi Levy, together with the corona commissioner, Prof. Nachman Ash, the head of public health services at the ministry, Dr. Sharon Elrai Price, and Dr. Asher Shalmon, head of the international department.
At the same time, the failure at Ben Gurion Airport last Friday - which led to the release of more than a thousand passengers without inspection - yesterday led the Ministry of Health to conduct a thorough investigation to prevent a recurrence. Disorganized shifts and lack of preparation according to the flight schedule and depending on the passenger load.Sources familiar with the details of the initial investigation, which will be presented to Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, said the intention is to learn lessons from the default.
"No one checked me and my friends to see that we were not infected," said a 23-year-old woman who landed from a vacation in Corfu. "We just went out and continued home. I recover, so I'm not worried - and I and my friends do not want to pay 100 shekels each for the test. "This is probably due to the congestion of departures from the airport, which led to the guards at the departure gates from the landing hall not being able to carefully check all passengers. Do not leave the field without an inspection, officials at the Airports Authority wanted to emphasize that the inspection complex is not their responsibility.
Against the background of the unusual congestion at Ben Gurion Airport, and the fear of the introduction of variants of the corona virus such as the Delta variant ("Indian strain"), Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz met yesterday and agreed on a significant increase in the corona testing complex at Ben Gurion Airport. This is in order to meet the volume of returns to Israel. It is also planned to convert the inspectors of the Population Authority to increase enforcement on the isolated, and a re-examination of the obligation to wear masks for those landing at Ben Gurion Airport will be re-examined.
Following a situation assessment last night, Bennett said that "the weaknesses at this stage are the spread of the (Indian) Delta variant around the world, Israelis' visits to these countries and the fact that many returnees from abroad do not follow the isolation guidelines." For recruiting 250 police officers specifically for the enforcement task on returnees from abroad for a limited period of time. Also, those flying abroad will be required to fill out an outgoing passenger form and sign an affidavit before boarding the plane to make sure they are not flying to one of the six countries at maximum risk.