Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday will present to the government with a proposal to cease all international flights to and from Israel for two weeks, with the aim of stopping any additional coronavirus mutations from entering the country.
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Over the weekend, Netanyahu convened a series of discussions on the matter with Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, National Security Council head Meir Ben-Shabbat, Health Ministry Director-General Professor Hezi Levy, national corona commissioner Professor Nachman Ash, and other senior officials, including the attorney general and head of the Israel Airports Authority.
In addition to banning all incoming and outgoing flights, the prime minister will also propose that the government approve restrictions to the number of visitors to Ben-Gurion International Airport, meaning that anyone who wants to go to the airport, for example, to pick up an arriving family member, will need special permission from a joint committee comprising health and transportation ministry officials.
The government will also be asked to approve separate guidelines for humanitarian cases that necessitate special flights.
It should be noted that activity at Ben-Gurion Airport is already considerably reduced due to previous decisions made by the government. During a previous government vote on the matter of shutting down all flights, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) voted against the measure, arguing that Israel could not, in principle, shut its gates to citizens seeking to return home.
"We wanted to do [close the airport] a few weeks ago, and now there's broader support for it," officials in the Health Ministry said.
"We are discussing the issue of severe restrictions on Ben-Gurion Airport and on outgoing flights. It will be difficult to shut down Ben-Gurion Airport hermetically for various reasons, but there's a chance it will be close to that."
The airport can't be completely shut down
The airport shutdown protocol is expected to prohibit Israelis from flying abroad, except for pre-approved or extraordinary cases. Consequently, the majority of flights to and from Israel will be canceled by airlines for financial reasons.
In any case, Ben-Gurion Airport will not be completely shut down, due to the need for cargo and other important flights. In all likelihood, airport operations will be extremely limited in scope if or when Israelis are indeed prohibited from traveling abroad.
At the same time, the government was also considering banning all flights to Dubai. On Friday, Denmark stopped all flights to and from Dubai for five days over concerns that inbound passengers were using forged COVID tests.
Meanwhile, as of Friday night, every passenger entering Israel must now present a negative COVID test upon arrival. The test must be have been administered no more than three days prior to departure. Alternatively, passengers can also present proof of COVID vaccination issued by the Health Ministry.
Health Ministry officials said this protocol would be applied to any arriving passenger who was abroad for more than 72 hours. Anyone who had departed Israel before the seven-day waiting period following their second vaccination will also be required to enter self-isolation, regardless of the date of their arrival in Israel.
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