Five hours of deliberations in the Corona Cabinet: No decisions were taken on ending the lock down

After more than five hours of deliberations, the Corona Cabinet has concluded its meeting and the prevailing assessment among ministers is that the relief on the lock down will not come before 18 October. It is also possible that there will be a further postponement if the increase in morbidity continues.
The head of the National Security Staff, Meir Ben Shabbat, and the experts also stated that it is difficult to draw well-founded conclusions from the data so far in light of the effects of Yom Kippur and Sukkot that reduced the number of tests.
The next day, the government is expected to approve the continuation of the closure regulations for another week - until October 14. In addition, if such and such concessions are decided on Monday, they will be approved by the Knesset only on Thursday, so that their implementation can be postponed until the 18th.
Behind the scenes, a heated debate erupted over the relief. A senior minister said he expects next week to erupt no less than a "war" on the issue. Finance Minister Israel Katz and all blue and white ministers said they believe in the immediate opening of all businesses that do not receive an audience, and at the same time even approve education for children aged 6-0. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz oppose this.
Katz erupted in anger and came out sharply against the Ministry of Health. "This is not acceptable to me, I demand that the economic consideration of the relief be no less significant than my health," the minister said. But Netanyahu stopped the altercation at the beginning of the debate and said that there would be no decisions on the relief before next week. It is estimated that the confrontation between the stick line and the more conservative line will culminate next Monday.
Science Minister Yizhar Shai said at the end of the cabinet that "the only difficult date there is is next Monday. We agreed that then we will look at the events of this week, the information and data, and turn to decision making. What needs to be opened in the coming weeks: from the education system, Ben Gurion Airport, businesses that receive an audience, businesses that do not receive an audience, cultural events and sports. "
During the hearing, Transportation Minister Miri Regev decided to devote long minutes to the protesters, whom she called "anarchists," "disease spreaders" and "extreme leftists," according to yeshiva participants. Ministers Avi Nissenkorn and Meirav Cohen confronted her and shouted at her, while Prime Minister Netanyahu looked at them through the screen with pleasure. After the debate, blue-and-white ministers were furious at the cabinet secretary that each of them could only speak for five minutes, with Minister Regev attacking the protesters for almost a quarter of an hour.
Defense Minister Bnei Gantz also referred to the demonstrations in the cabinet debate: "Our society is close to rupture. It makes common sense, we as leaders should go out against violence. I am not willing to accept that a 57-year-old woman is punched, not beaten and not attacked by police. We are in a very dangerous place. "Blood will be shed here - what shall we say to the public? We as political parties cannot deal with the issue of demonstrations."
He added: "At the moment there is an outline, and as soon as the overall closure is over, we will return to the outline of the demonstrations set by the professionals and allow the protest against us."
At the cabinet meeting, it was agreed that the government's immediate goal is to continue focusing on containment efforts and reducing morbidity, and that a professional team from the Ministry of Homeland Security, the Ministry of Health and the ombudsman will examine the proposals for tightening enforcement - and submit its recommendations.
The prime minister will also discuss on Sunday the conclusions of the inter-ministerial team that will formulate a proposal for the exit indices. Health Minister Edelstein was instructed to formulate a response to the work of the Minister of Social Equality, Meirav Cohen, who demands that visits be made to elderly people living alone.
In addition, the team of ministers on the issue of the use of digital means was instructed to examine the possibility of encouraging the download of the "Shield 2" widget, and efforts regarding the rapid test kits and the acquisition of the vaccine will also continue.