The Israeli Government Urged To Involve The Military In Handling COVID-19

Photo illustration (Adam Niescioruk / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - After the lockdown, the number of COVID-19 transmission in Israel increased to the highest level. A number of coalition party members have encouraged the government to fully involve the military in curbing the spread of COVID-19.

Since May, Israel has relaxed its lockdown policy. Along with that, Israel is experiencing a second phase spike in COVID-19 transmission. Today, the transmission of COVID-19 in Israel has exceeded the 50 thousand mark, of which 400 have died.

Launching Reuters, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi who comes from a coalition party hopes that the military will take part in various policies to curb the progress of COVID-19. So far, the countermeasures at the level of the Israeli Ministry of Health are considered insufficient, and they are even predicted to continue to increase.

Ashkenazi said the government could engage the Israeli Armed Forces Command. "This virus will not leave us for a whole year. Therefore there needs to be a change in management, "said Ashkenazi to Ynet TV.

"Therefore we have to put ego aside. And I will say this to Bibi (Netanyahu). I said we need to shift the responsibility to the defense agencies," he added.

Even so, Deputy Health Minister Yoav Kish did not agree with the proposal. He stated that the Ministry of Health is willing to cooperate with the military. And the cooperation has been done so far. However, that does not mean that the handling is delegated to the military. In Kish's eyes, this discourse will be very controversial.

"You understand what it means if the army starts asking people, 'What have you done, who did you meet with?'" Kish said.

"It's a super sensitive issue, a health problem. There's no ego element here," he added.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu's Office has not immediately commented on full military empowerment. However, the owner of the policy will not allow this idea to become a reality, given that the government and the coalition parties themselves are often at odds, especially over the proposed annexation of Israel in the West Bank.

So far Israel has confirmed 54,042 cases of COVID-19 transmission. Among them, there were 425 cases died.