Supervised By The Attorney General's Office, Israel Suspends Covid-19 Vaccine Diplomacy

Illustration. (Steven Cornfield / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the Israeli government had suspended the diplomacy program for vaccines, the program for the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries, after the initiative was under legal surveillance.

This is inseparable from criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who wants to donate vaccines to foreign allies, while the "occupied" Palestinians complain about the limited supply of vaccines from Israel.

Israel's Public Broadcasting Authority, Kan, which reported earlier this week that Israel would deliver COVID-19 vaccines to 19 countries, said Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit was seeking clarification on the program.

As reported by Reuters, an official in Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that after the legal questions were raised, Netanyahu's national security adviser had asked Mandelblit for his opinion.

"I welcome the decision to freeze the transfer of the COVID-19 vaccine to other countries," Gantz said on Twitter. Gantz is in charge of Netanyahu's government as he prepares to face him in elections next month.

Netanyahu earlier this week defended so-called vaccine diplomacy, saying Israel had "unused" leftovers of Moderna's vaccine.

"I think it's good intentions. I think this is a smart decision, in return for the many dividends we have received, in many ongoing contacts in various fields which I will not elaborate on here," he said last Wednesday.

Israel already has one of the fastest COVID-19 vaccine launches in the world, with nearly half of its population having received a single dose. The Netanyahu administration wants vaccine diplomacy. But Defense Minister Gantz said the decision to deliver a vaccine had to be made in the right forum, and Netanyahu could not take matters into his own hands.