Why is it that the high-level travel warning issued by the Counterterrorism Bureau has no effect on the masses of Israelis vacationing in Istanbul? Jalal Bana wrote in Israel Hayom on Thursday that most of the Israeli travelers in Turkey are Arab Israelis.
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Meaning, the warnings should be published mostly in Arabic, and the leaders of the sector should be recruited to join the efforts. But if it is possible to turn an entire country hysterical because the Iranians are about to eliminate us, then let us not miss out on this opportunity.
Do you personally know an Israeli who is in Turkey now? Or has just returned? I don't. But I do know someone who is sick with the coronavirus. And another person who has just recently recovered.
But when it comes to these individuals, the government takes no responsibility. Perhaps because tackling the virus would cost them much more than calling on Israelis to return from Istanbul. After all, if there is no pandemic, then there is no need to pay those affected by it.
After several unsuccessful attempts to get a refund for the days I spent in isolation in early 2022, I finally sat down this week to get it done. Here is what I found: I will not be receiving the 2,500 shekels ($720) I deserve for quarantining with my child who had gotten infected with the virus.
Why not? Because I did not call the Health Ministry on the first day of the isolation period to inform them of the quarantine. The health fund has a record that my child was sick, as does the Health Ministry. And yet, I was apparently required to pick up the phone one more time to make it clear to them that I, a self-employed single mother, was taking care of a sick child. Gone are the days when parents that did not look after their children were required to report.
The government does not take responsibility for the coronavirus. When the pandemic just began, then-Prime Minister Netanyahu put Israel on high alert, and Naftali Bennett complained that it was not enough. As a matter of fact, his public name was rebuilt as that of an expert on tackling the pandemic.
Netanyahu promised before the elections that the grants given to businesses to survive the pandemic would not need to be returned, yet Bennett's government is happy to take them back from businesses that are going bankrupt left and right.
The message is: take care of your health and financial problems on your own.
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