Government

The Ministry of Health will consider starting easing the closure in about two weeks if the morbidity data continues to fall. During the progress of the vaccination program will also be taken into account. Meanwhile, there is controversy in the government over whether to allow a large-scale opening of the economy as soon as there are two and a half million Israelis who will be vaccinated in two doses or wait until the vaccination of five million Israelis is completed. Our correspondent Liel Kaiser submits that at the current rate of immunization, such a wait would last three to four weeks....

The Employment Service reports this morning (Monday) that in the last day 18,566 new jobseekers were registered, with 39,308 unemployed registered since the closure and since Sunday, 27.12.2020, the day the closure began, a total of 99,234 new jobseekers were registered. The update also shows that 81,923 of the unemployed were released on unpaid leave, and their share of all new job seekers is 82.5%, while 17,311 of them have been fired or resigned and their share stands at 17.5% of all registrants since the closure began

Data from the Employment Service published on Thursday show that already this week the ratio between those fired and those going on vacation without pay and those who have already returned has decreased. Thus, in the fourth week of quarantine for every ten registrants in the employment service, 1.3 job seekers returned to the labor force, while in the fifth week, the ratio almost doubled, with every 2.3 registrants returning to work 2.3 job seekers. Either way, it seems that the trend will be reversed as early as next week and more workers will return to work than go on vacation and be...

The Corona Cabinet has approved the updated traffic light index, according to which studies will be able to resume in cities defined as "bright orange" from next Tuesday. The localities where more studies are open are Gush Etzion, Gan Yavne, Ganei Tikva, Yokneam Illit, Kfar Yona, Mevaseret Zion, Ma'ale Adumim, Nahariya, Pardes Hanna-Karkur, Rehovot and Ramat Gan. They will also be able to reopen their studies in the settlements of Yakir and Peduel in Samaria, Mevo Horon in Mateh Binyamin, and in Sde Nehemia in the Upper Galilee. In Eilat, the municipality announced that the institutions...

The heads of the local authorities are trying to reach an agreement with the government on the introduction of the return of studies to the middle schools. This follows the threat of the Local Authorities Forum to open its schools tomorrow. The government will convene after noon to discuss the matter. There is still no agreement between Blue and White and the Likud on this matter. Mayors from the 15th Forum announced at the begining of the week the opening of classes for grades 7 to 10 starting Wednesday, ahead of a date set by the government, are calling on teaching staff to cooperate...

The night closure on Purim took effect tonight (Thursday) at 20:30 and will last until 05:00. Among other things, it will be forbidden during these hours to leave the house for a distance of more than 1,000 meters and stay in other houses. Public transportation will also be reduced, and as always in Israel, the outline for restrictions on lines was published at the last minute. The night closure will also apply on Friday and Saturday, but not on Sunday - then Shoshan Purim will be celebrated in Jerusalem. The government has approved the restrictions for fear that as last year mass...

The reform of the port of Ashdod is underway: after almost eight years of negotiations, an agreement was officially signed tonight between the state, the management of the port of Ashdod and the workers. The agreement ensures substantial efficiency in all sectors and managerial flexibility that will allow the port to compete with the private ports currently being established. At the same time, the remaining employees received a variety of benefits; Among other things, 10 years of protection against collective redundancies will be given to second-generation non-founding employees; A...

Only NIS 16 million will be allocated at this stage for the benefit of performing professional training and placing workers in required professions in the industry and construction industries with government funding. In the past, there have been statements from senior members of the economy that vocational training will need to be allocated hundreds of millions of shekels and even more, in order to return the hundreds of thousands of unemployed to work after the severe corona crisis. With the significant reopening of the economy after the third closure, tens of thousands of workers are...

The holes in Israel's social security network widened even before the corona crisis, according to data from the April edition of the publication "Social Security in the World" in the National Insurance Institute. According to the document, public welfare expenditure in Israel in 2019 was among the lowest in the OECD and stood at 16.3% of gross national product (GDP). This figure places Israel in 30th place out of 37 countries. 17% of GDP in 2017. In the Corona crisis itself, public spending increased at a rate similar to the OECD average, but it cannot be concluded that Israel has bridged...

The state opening national event to mark Holocaust Martyrs 'and Heroes' Remembrance Day was held Wednesday night at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. The ceremony was attended by President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Speaker of the Knesset and chief justice of the Supreme Court Ester chayut. This year's ceremony was marked by the phrase "until the last Jew - 80 years since the beginning of the mass extermination." In his speech, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nuclear talks with Iran - and sent a message to the United States: "An agreement with Iran will not...