It turns out: the closure of Ben Gurion Airport will be extended by two weeks; those who fly until 25.1 will be on rescue flights

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The Corona in Israel: The closure of Ben Gurion Airport is expected to take another two weeks from this coming Sunday. The final decision on the matter is expected to be made on Sunday, but in light of the morbidity and daily infection rate, which stands at over 7,000 in all recent days, the closure is expected to continue.

Empty and sad: This is what Ben Gurion Airport looks like in the closing days (archive) // Photo: Gil Kramer

At the same time, it appears that those who left Israel by January 25, 2021, will be able to return to Israel on rescue flights. Currently, the rescue flights that will be carried out are from Frankfurt, Germany, and the possibility of rescue flights from the United States is also being discussed. It is not clear at this time whether there will be additional destinations.

Every Israeli who returns to Israel, except for the recovered and vaccinated, will be sent to solitary confinement in a motel.

Meanwhile, a change of ministers in the Exceptions Committee approving outbound and inbound flights. Minister Tzachi Hanegbi will replace Minister Yuval Steinitz on the committee, which will henceforth consist mainly of professionals and non-ministers. In addition, a merger of the two committees is expected – the Exceptions Committee for those leaving the country and the committee for those entering it.

The High Court will decide: Will the closure of the sky be canceled?

Two days ago, a petition was submitted to the High Court by four lawyers and funded by some of the Israelis who are stuck abroad and cannot now return to Israel. In a conversation with attorney Batya Zacks, a member of the legal team that will file the petition, she explains the allegations, the laws violated for her claim and the chances of success: “Our main allegations are that under existing Corona law, there is no authority to close the sky. According to the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, there are two explicit clauses according to which every citizen is free to leave Israel and every citizen is allowed to return to Israel. ”

She added: “At first we waited, they said the airport was closed for a week and now they have extended until Sunday and we no longer know if they will extend any further. The government needs to know what the authority limits are, there is something disproportionate here, people are stuck in many countries “There are many thousands of Israeli citizens who are stuck in Istanbul. There are many thousands of people who are stuck in the world and cannot return to their homes, so today we will file a petition with the High Court and we will request an interim order so that the state opens the borders and allows those people to return home.”

Advocate Zacks expressed confidence in the chances of success of the move: “In my opinion, the petition is well-founded and has very good chances. There is a direct conflict here in the Basic Law. “On the one hand, they say they are doing it for the sake of public health, but on the other hand, tens of thousands of citizens abroad are being sacrificed. There is no balance between the decision and the damage. We believe that today we will know whether the court granted the request for an interim order.”

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