Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein held a preparatory meeting today (Monday) ahead of further discussions on the Ministry of Education’s outline for returning students to school. As you may recall, yesterday the cabinet meeting on the issue ended without decisions, and is expected to resume tonight.
According to the outline agreed between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Bnei Gantz, in the green and yellow cities as well as in localities with a high rate of immunization, students will begin to study grades 1-4, grades 11-12, and kindergartens. In the orange and red cities, the gardens will be opened in smaller capsules (half-grades), while grades 1-4 and 12-12 will only be taught in the open air, in a ‘yes-yes-no’ format, according to a decision by the Ministry of Health.
Bnei Gantz at the beginning of the cabinet meeting on the opening of the education system (Photo: Tal Oz, Ministry of Defense)
Simultaneously with the lack of progress in the matter in the government, the heads of local authorities across the country began to act in order to advance the process of exit from the quarantine. The mayor of Yavne, Zvi Gov Ari, announced earlier on his Facebook account that he would demand daily checks from all municipal employees who had not yet been vaccinated, and that he would not allow teaching staff who had not been vaccinated to return to work.
Gov. Ari wrote in a letter to the city’s educational staff that “kindergarten teachers and assistants should understand that their refusal to get vaccinated means that kindergarten children will not be able to return to school thanks to them.” Much criticism has been leveled at the mayor for his decisions, and many citizens and residents have responded that he is unable to force employees to get vaccinated and condition their continued work on it.
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Dear residents of Yavne, I would like to update you on the two decisions I have made regarding the health of us all. I have no doubt that in the way of immunization we can …
Published by Zvi Gov-Ari on Monday, February 8th, 2021
At the same time, the mayor of Karmiel, Moshe Koninsky, decided to allow the opening of shops and businesses in the shopping and commercial centers, so that employees and buyers would carry vaccine certificates after a week had passed since the second vaccine they received. In addition, Koninsky decided that shops and businesses in the shopping and commercial centers would be allowed to enter with visitors and buyers who have vaccinated certificates after a week had passed since the second vaccine they also received. It will be emphasized that the number of people who will be allowed to stay in shops and businesses will be in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Health.
The Carmiel Municipality has announced that it will issue a special operating certificate for each business whose employees have been vaccinated, which will be placed in the income for shops and businesses. Koninsky explained his decision, saying: “I am convinced that my decisions will allow a return to the routine of business in the city in a better and safer way and will encourage those who have hitherto refrained from getting vaccinated.”
As you may recall, the opening of the stores in the major shopping centers has not yet been approved, even though many shopping centers around the country were opened yesterday, contrary to the guidelines.