NZ Friends of Israel Association Inc
Fighting racial intolerance in New Zealand and beyond
Israel is rolling out a fast-tracked COVID-19 vaccine programme, giving a first dose to 48% of its population of 9 million in five weeks. The country’s aim is to vaccinate 80% of the population by the end of May 2021.
But questions have also been raised about the way the programme has been carried out. So what can be learned from Israel’s experience?
Israel’s vaccination campaign is the fastest in the world, and in the coming days it will reach a milestone, inoculating half of its population with at least one dose.
The rapid rollout is giving the rest of the world a first glimpse into the rules that may govern a vaccinated society — and they’re raising thorny questions.
This week, the government is allowing the reopening of shopping malls, gyms, sport events, hotels and other venues for the first time in months — but only for people who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19. Under a new “Green Badge” system, customers and attendees will have to carry a certificate of vaccination with a QR code to gain entrance to many areas of public life, from restaurants and event halls, to conferences and swimming pools.
The system is fueling a heated debate about personal rights versus the greater good. But for the country’s health minister, the situation is cut and dry: “Getting vaccinated is a moral duty. It is part of our mutual responsibility,” he said. “Whoever does not get vaccinated will be left behind.”
The health ministry is now proposing legislation that would require some unvaccinated employees to be tested every 48 hours for the virus, and the health minister is promoting a bill that would identify unvaccinated people to the local authorities.
While four million people out of a population of nine million have been vaccinated, about two million citizens who are eligible have not sought a vaccine. In some cities, unvaccinated employees have been threatened with dismissal, including hotel workers and educators. A quarter or more of Israel’s teachers have not sought a first dose, and critics say they pose a danger to students under 16, who are too young to be vaccinated.
Rights groups have pushed back and have written a letter to the attorney general demanding that he issue a clear opinion that, under the law, employers may not demand vaccination status from workers. But with so many competing interests involved, resolving these issues may require legislative action from Parliament.
Dr. Maya Peled Raz, an expert in health law and ethics at the University of Haifa, defended some limits on personal liberties for the greater good. Employers cannot force employees to get vaccinated, she said, but they might be allowed to employ only vaccinated workers if not doing so could harm their business.
“It’s your choice,” she added of leisure activities. “If you are vaccinated, you can enter. As long as you aren’t, we can’t let you endanger others.”
Tens of thousands of Israelis calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign demonstrated across the country Saturday evening, saying he is unfit to rule while on trial for corruption charges and accusing him of mismanaging the nation’s coronavirus crisis.
Protesters gathered at hundreds of locations across the country due to a nationwide lockdown that has barred them from protesting at the usual site outside Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem. The current lockdown regulations allow people only to gather within one kilometre of their home.
By Doug Davidson
Daniel and Shani are two Israelis caught out by Covid-19 and are currently living and working in Whanganui. The RCP caught up with them to discuss their backgrounds; life as young people in Israel and their future plans and hopes. In many respects, they are representative of young Israelis today.
Daniel’s grandparents came to Israel from Morocco and Shani’s family on her mother’s side came from Uzbekistan while her father is from the Czech Republic. Both speak fluent English.
Both were raised in the Orthodox Jewish community in Be’er Sheva to the south of Israel. At Daniel’s secondary school, called ‘Yeshiva,’ he studied only ‘Jewish Studies’ for three years – “no Maths or English.” In his last year, “I had to catch up on four years of study to pass the Ministry of Education’s school diploma,” he says.
Yeshiva belongs to a sub-stream between Ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox Judaism. If you don’t know much about Orthodox Judaism, watch the series ‘Unorthodox’ on Netflix.
Daniel, as an Orthodox Jewish male, wore a ‘peot’ – long curls of hair frequently wrapped around the ears because of a Biblical injunction against shaving the sides of one’s head. “After school, you are expected to go into the army for three years, although the Orthodox can choose to continue studying Jewish Studies.”
Daniel joined the army for five years, becoming an officer. He says, “I enjoyed it very much. As a commander, you test yourself, your abilities, and your character.” Orthodox girls don’t’ go into the army, however. “They object to working alongside boys and having to wear trousers.”
Instead, they can opt to do National Service, which is not compulsory. Shani says, “It is seen as a parallel service to being in the army. You work in education, health, supporting the Community.” Shani worked for the Government for two years as a tour guide for students.
“Once you have completed your army service, many young Israelis want to travel,” says Daniel. “Most will choose Asia or South America as they are not so expensive. As I was an officer, I had saved up for us to come to New Zealand and Australia. We were attracted by the different cultures and also Shani’s brother had been here in 2017. He recommended New Zealand very much.”
They arrived on January 10, bought a car and were travelling in the South Island before Covid-19 struck. “We tried selling it but couldn’t. Fortunately, a family offered to host us for the lockdown period.” Their hosts are part of H.I.T. – Host Israeli Travellers, who will host travelling Israelis either for free or minimal cost. “It was great to be part of a family again,” Shani says.
Once level 4, then 3, was over, they moved to the North Island and are being hosted in Whangaehu by the Rev David Berberfield, who also hosts visitors through the ‘Couch Surfing’ connection. Shani describes him as “the most nicest person.”
They applied and received New Zealand work visas and soon found evening work – Shani at Stella and Daniel at The Red and they are planting kiwifruit at Mangamahu during the day. Working hard is part of their way of life. As they say, “We are taught to know what you want out of life, to be competitive, work hard and reach targets.”
Neither of them is orthodox or even religious in their approach. “But,” as Daniel explains, “We feel Jewish. We are connected to our religion and culture.” He gives the example of commemorating the destruction by the Romans of the second temple in 70CE. Religious Jews will see it as a punishment from God because the Jew were fighting between themselves. He and Shani will see it as “a need to love each other.”
They are enjoying life in Whanganui and recently explored the possibility of studying at Massey – Shani in biology and Daniel in history. But they would need to be New Zealand residents as it would cost them approximately $28,000 each as International Students – a figure they can’t afford. In Israel, University study is much cheaper for them.
You can’t discuss life in Israel without bringing up the Palestinian question. Shani says, “I would be concerned about future plans for “Samaria.” (The Israeli term for the West Bank). She lived there while doing her national service, learning the history and feeling connected to the place. She would be “very sad if she could not go there in the future.”
Daniel explained that why he wants to study history is to focus on the history of the Middle East and Islam to understand better the conflict. He says, “I have no specific opinions but I recognize that the Palestinians have had a very bad time and something has to happen.”
Source: Davidson, D (20 August 2020). Young Israelis stuck in NZ during COVID, now living and working in Whanganui. River City Press. Pages 1-2.
[NZFOI: Thanks to Elizabeth Green for sharing the article with us.]
Jacob Kornbluh was just three blocks from his home in Brooklyn, documenting a protest against coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday evening, when the demonstration suddenly turned toward him.
The 39-year-old journalist found himself pinned to the wall of a store, he said, as dozens of fellow Orthodox Jews began yelling and calling him a “moyser” — Yiddish for “snitch” — in a confrontation captured on video. Then a few maskless men spit onto his face.
“These were members of my own community with hatred in their eyes, flipping the finger toward me, calling me a Nazi, saying I deserve to die,” Kornbluh, a politics reporter for Jewish Insider, told The Washington Post. “All these months I keep a distance, wear a mask not to get sick, advocate for measures that save lives, they disrespect my space and do something horrifying.”
The attack underscores the escalating tensions playing out this week in many of Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. As a surge in coronavirus cases has prompted government authorities to issue new lockdown orders, including restrictions on houses of worship, some in this mostly insular community have turned their skepticism of public health measures into open defiance.
Israel will “hit the emergency brake” on its reopening plans as the number of coronavirus cases rises sharply, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday during a meeting of the coronavirus cabinet.
“There has been a very steep increase in morbidity. It could be that we are already seeing the doubling of the rate of infection within ten days. I very much hope not, ” Netanyahu said during the meeting.
For the past eight days, Israel has seen approximately 100 new infections a day, up from approximately 20 new infections a day a week earlier.
According to the Ministry of Health, 298 people have now died as a result of coronavirus in Israel.
Netanyahu said that Israel would freeze further reopening measures that were supposed to take place in the coming days, reevaluating the situation in one week.
Though schools, malls, and restaurants reopened under certain health restrictions, the resumption of train service and the reopening of theaters, music halls, and other cultural venues will now be delayed.
An unmarked Etihad Airways cargo plane flew aid to help the Palestinians fight the coronavirus pandemic from the capital of the United Arab Emirates into Israel this week, marking the first known direct commercial flight between the two nations.
The UAE, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai on the Arabian Peninsula, has no diplomatic ties to Israel over its occupation of land wanted by the Palestinians for a future state, like all Arab nations except Egypt and Jordan.
Yet the flight marked a moment of cooperation between Israel and the UAE after years of rumoured back-channel discussions between them over the mutual enmity of Iran and other issues.
Etihad, the state-owned, long-haul carrier based in Abu Dhabi, confirmed it sent a flight Tuesday (Wednesday NZ time) to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.
NEW YORK (JTA) — The day before the Hasidic folk band Zusha performed before a crowd of 300 in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights on the evening of March 9, the band’s manager thought about canceling the event.
The concert was to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim, a one-day festival marked by dressing in costume, communal dancing and feasting — often in crowded and raucous settings. But the incipient spread of the novel coronavirus in New York was giving the manager, Paltiel Ratzenberg, second thoughts.
No government body had advised against large gatherings — that would come nearly a week later — but the virus already was making its presence felt among New York Jews. An outbreak that began in late February in New Rochelle, a suburb just north of New York City, led to some synagogues canceling services and others announcing that they had nixed their Purim parties.
So Ratzenberg called the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ask for guidance. He also called a local rabbi.
Ratzenberg told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that both gave him the go-ahead. The band also wanted to play. So the show went on — with plenty of hand sanitizer available.
This is a very, very difficult time and it becomes really acute when we see it from the perspective of Pesach.
This year we’re clearly dealing with an enormous phenomenon. Just today, the General Secretary of the United Nations has called this “the greatest challenge facing humanity since World War II”.
So anything that I have to say, I say with absolutely humility and with hesitancy, because none of us know for sure what all of this means. But let me, in any case, share some thoughts with you.
Two months ago, Rabbi Romi Cohn grew deeply emotional as he stood before the United States Congress, delivering the opening prayer on the day that marked 75 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
“As a young boy of 10 years, I was condemned to be dead, to be murdered,” Cohn told the lawmakers.
Instead, Cohn survived the war. He joined the partisan forces that fought the Nazis in what was then Czechoslovakia and helped to rescue 56 Jewish families. He moved to Brooklyn, where he became a respected rabbi and a mohel who performed thousands of circumcisions, welcoming new generations of Jewish baby boys.
This week, Cohn died at 91 of the coronavirus.
