Israel was a covid-19 success. Then Netanyahu showed how not to manage the disease.
He forged a coalition government with the leading opposition party that pledged to focus almost exclusively on the pandemic for six months.....
Infections plummeted, to a low of 10 new cases a day in mid-May. Mr. Netanyahu’s poll ratings soared. “So far we’ve done it better than nearly every other country in the world,” he boasted. The hubristic prime minister then proceeded to demonstrate how not to manage the disease. He ordered a quick reopening of businesses, entertainment and schools. “We want to make your lives easier, to allow you to go out and get some air . . . to drink a cup of coffee and to have a beer as well,” he told Israelis. “So first of all, enjoy yourselves.”
The predictable result: Israel is now averaging more than 1,770 new covid-19 infections per day and ranks fifth in the world on a per capita basis in the past week, just behind the United States. Mr. Netanyahu’s approval rating has fallen from 74 percent to 46 percent, according to one polling organization. The prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem and his home outside Tel Aviv lately have been the sites of near-nightly demonstrations led by infuriated young people.
The government particularly erred in its full opening of schools. Thousands of infections in students and staff have been recorded, and epidemiological studies have shown that schools contributed heavily to the overall spike in infections. Thanks to its relatively youthful population, Israel’s morbidity rate has been well below that of the United States; there had been 512 deaths as of Friday in a country of 9 million. But hospitals remain under siege: Four of them, including the country’s largest, reached their occupancy limit this week.
Unlike President Trump, Mr. Netanyahu has been willing to admit that he made a mistake in reopening the economy too soon and accept responsibility for it. But in other respects, Israel’s outbreak has been fueled by political dysfunction familiar to the United States. Public health restrictions have become politicized: A committee of the Knesset, or parliament, has repeatedly reversed new closures imposed by the government this month, including of gyms, pools and restaurants. For his part, Mr. Netanyahu has adopted a Trumpian response to the demonstrations, accusing the young people outside his residences of “anarchy, violence, vandalism,” even as police blast them with water cannons.
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