Lawmakers and shopping mall directors expressed opposition Tuesday after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz decided to apply the "Green Pass" vaccine certificate regulations to Israel's shopping malls
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According to the outline – to be approved by the cabinet and the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee – the guidelines will apply to all indoor complexes larger than 10,000 square meters (108,000 square feet), with digital certificates to be scanned by security personal at the entrance. Every vaccinated patron will receive a bracelet that will allow him or her to move around the mall freely.
Unvaccinated Israelis will only be allowed to enter "essential" shops, with a list to be formulated by the government's legal advisors. Unvaccinated individuals will not receive a bracelet.
Yisrael Beytenu MK Eli Avidar criticized the move, calling it a "hasty step that has no epidemiological logic and [that] disregards reality."
"It is a blow to business owners and a blow to citizens. The democratic public is losing the little trust it has left and in the culprits who participate in this madness," he said.
Uri Abel, CEO of the Seven Stars shopping mall in Herzliya, told Israel Hayom, "I consider this a bad decision that is difficult to implement and enforce. It will create lines at the entrance as well as hostility. This is the exact opposite of the experience we want to create in the mall … I understand the intention of health [behind the move], but instead of rewarding those who want to get vaccinated, the whole population is punished."
The management of the Dizengoff Center shopping mall in Tel Aviv said in a statement, "At this point, the decision is not applicable, effective or relevant to reality, but once we get the full details we will understand its requirements and examine whether it can be implemented. We will continue to keep the center a safe space for all while respecting the rights of the individual."
Bennett and Nitzan also decided that children and adults who have been vaccinated with the first dose will receive a temporary "green pass" that will be valid for 30 days from the date of the first vaccination.
The two also introduced new guidelines for Israelis returning from abroad.
Starting Friday, vaccinated individuals who return from so-called "red" countries will be required to take a coronavirus test at Ben-Gurion International Airport, sign an agreement, and self-isolate for seven days at home, at the end of which they will be required to take another PCR test. They will be able to exit quarantine after receiving their negative test results.
Unvaccinated Israelis will also have to perform a coronavirus test upon arrival, isolate in a state-run hotel until they receive their test results, and if negative, sign an agreement and continue self-isolating for the rest of the seven days at home. They too will be required to take another PCR test at the end of the self-isolation period. If negative, they will be able to exit quarantined. If the individual tests positive at Ben-Gurion Airport, he or she will be required to self-isolate for the entire seven days at the state-run hotel.
Bennett also instructed officials to re-examine the criteria for adding states onto the government's no-fly list in an effort to curb the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant in Israel.
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