The IDF was significantly stepping up its efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus, as the country's top financial regulators on Thursday discussed the economic implications of the global outbreak without announcing any immediate decisions. Any further health restrictions will take the economy, which they described as "strong and stable," into account.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi on Thursday ordered the complete cessation of flights abroad for soldiers and officers, and canceled all joint military exercises with foreign armies in Israel and abroad.
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Additionally, the IDF is establishing a special command and control center to help all units contend with the virus. Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir was tabbed to oversee the efforts.
Kochavi convened a situational assessment meeting Thursday afternoon, the goal of which was to ensure the IDF maintains operational readiness. Three primary objectives were defined in the meeting: remain battle-ready, minimize the spread of the virus, and prepare for the next phase, in which the IDF will perhaps be required to help the civilian sector battle the virus.
The first decision that was made, as stated, was to cancel all flights abroad. According to the directive, as of noon Friday, the army will forbid all soldiers and officers from traveling abroad. Simultaneously, two committees were formed to examine special travel requests on an individual basis.
As part of the army's preparations for the next stages, the Home Front Command was tabbed to help contain the virus if a more significant outbreak occurs. The IDF was also looking into procuring special equipment to help fight the virus.
"Right now in the IDF, between 500 and 600 soldiers are in quarantine," IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Hidai Zilberman told military correspondents. "We will do what needs to be done to help the country. We canceled a joint exercise with the paratroopers and the American army and the Juniper Cobra exercise. We recalled the IDF attaché from China. The remaining attachés will not be recalled for the time being," he said.
Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry said in a statement that "the financial regulators and all the economic entities clarified that the Israeli economy is strong and stable and that so far no substantial hit to the economy has been seen as a result of the outbreak of the virus.
"However, management of the Finance Ministry, the Bank of Israel and the Israel Securities Authority are aware of the implications of the latest measures taken by the Health Ministry on the economy and continue to monitor on a daily basis the economic variables as well as global growth."
The ministry said that in coordination with the prime minister, any further steps taken to combat the outbreak of the virus will take the economic implications into consideration.
Israel on Wednesday ordered travelers arriving from Germany, France, Spain, Austria and Switzerland to go into home quarantine over coronavirus concerns.
The measure effectively cut off foreign tourism from those countries, whose citizens, the Health Ministry said, would not be allowed into Israel unless they could show they had made quarantine arrangements ahead of time.
Israel has already imposed the edict with regard to flights from Italy, China, Thailand and Singapore.
The Bank of Israel said on Wednesday if conditions worsen significantly, the monetary policy committee "will use the variety of tools at its disposal whenever necessary."
German airline group Lufthansa said on Thursday that it was suspending all flights to Israel, starting on Sunday, March 8, until March 28.
