"I have good news about our economic situation. It's starting to get back to normal," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this evening at the opening of a special announcement in the wake of the recent rise in the rate of coronavirus infection in Israel.
"We have data from credit cards and also from the Central Bureau of Statistics. You can see it on the roads. People are in the shops. Nevertheless, the problem has not been solved, and the distress of those who have been hit by the crisis, businesses and the self-employed, is genuine distress and it touches our hearts. We have taken a series of steps to restore the economy to a growth track. Minister of Finance Katz will announce new aid measures for various groups.
"The less good news," the prime minister continued, "is the rate of infection. At the peak of the crisis we reached 800 patients a day, and then the infection rate started to drop. WE reached a situation of 20 patients a day and even fewer, and then we opened up the economy and relaxed the restrictions.
"We relaxed the restrictions on the economy, but we started to rise, and we have 230 infections a day. We are at the point at which the steep rise began that brought us to severely ill patients and to fatalities. We are already back to several hundred, and its climbing rapidly. We're about ten days away..
"We could go back to exponential growth, which would bring us back to severely ill patients and deaths. We must stop the increase in time. And if it continues, we'll have to impose restrictions.
"We have been less strict about the rules. The crowding on the beaches and in the pubs has become so great that you can't fit an ice-cream between two bathers or a beer mat between two people in a pub. I ask you to be careful about distancing, masks, and hands.
"Thanks to the decisions we made in time, and thanks to your cooperation, we prevented the spread of the pandemic. I'm asking you to get back to observing the rules. If we keep to the rules, they will keep us, and we will be able to get the economy and cultural life going again, within the coronavirus routine, until with God's help we find a vaccine."
Minister of Finance Yisrael Katz then spoke, beginning by saying, "There are good developments in the economy in credit and employment, and we want to continue the trend. The first thing I have done is to take the decisions made at the time of the crisis amounting to NIS 80 billion and to make sure that the decisions are carried out. I'm happy that we are leading a trend of improvement.
"At present we are at 50% execution of the budgetary decisions, and the aspiration is to raise execution higher. The first thing I attended to is incentives for employers to get workers back to work. We started with 1.2 million unemployed. After many meetings with groups and the public and consultations, the decision we arrived at was simply to give a direct grant to those who rehire workers, whether it's a large employer or a small one. No less important is to make sure that the decision is carried out immediately. Every worker from June 1, and we also decided to cover those who hired workers in May. A floor of NIS 3,300 was set so that part-time jobs would also benefit. But we didn’t make it too low, to avoid manipulations.
'We also decided to add a month of leave without pay for all employees, and today I announce two additional measures. The first is that workers aged over 67 who have not returned to work will receive a grant of NIS 4,000. The other relates to poorer sections of the population: 300,000 people who are entitled to negative income tax. We won’t wait till next year, but next month we'll give all the grants together. It amounts to about NIS 8,000 per person, depending on the individual.
"The prime minister spoke of mutual responsibility. Let's join hands and get people back to work."
Minister of Health Yuli Edelstein spoke next. "We are seeing a steady rise in infections. As we heard from the prime minister, the numbers are worrying. Yesterday we exceeded 230 infections in a day. I'm not conducting a policy of lockdowns, that's not my way and not my view. I'm formulating policy with regard for the wider consequences. I'm in favor of opening up. There was unanimity in the discussions that the economy has to stay open.
"It's not possible to open up without breaking the infection chain through as many tests as possible and quick results, and discipline on the part of the public. The first matter is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health. The criticism of the ministry is justified."
The government decided not to imposed renewed restrictions despite the rise in coronavirus infections. It was however decided that the Ministry of Health would define certain areas as "restricted areas", among them neighborhoods in south Tel Aviv in which foreign workers live, and areas in the Negev. The Ministry of Health called for schools to be closed, but Minister of Education Yoav Galant objected and the idea was dropped.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 11, 2020
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