Israelis protest against new rules to combat rising Covid cases

Country reimposes restrictions after opening up in April

Israelis hold placards at a rally in Tel Aviv on July 31, 2021 denouncing the government’s renewed restrictions to combat Covid-19.

Hundreds of Israelis demonstrated against vaccines and coronavirus restrictions in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on Saturday.

Positive cases and hospital admissions in Israel have risen to levels not seen in months, driven by the more contagious Delta variant.

On Saturday, the health ministry reported that 2,435 new Covid cases had been recorded the day before, the highest number since March.

There were 326 hospital admissions, the most since April. The figure falls well below the peak, in January, when more than 2,000 people were admitted as in-patients daily.

Protesters held banners that read: “There’s no pandemic, it’s a con”. Many had placards denouncing coronavirus vaccines. One poster linked vaccines to the Nazis.

Israel has in recent days rolled out a booster vaccine shot for older citizens, reimposed mask requirements indoors and restored “green pass” restrictions requiring vaccine certificates for entering enclosed spaces such as gyms, restaurants and hotels.

The rise in infections is a step back after Israel’s world-leading vaccine campaign drove down new Covid-19 cases from 10,000 a day to fewer than 100.

Last month, the Israeli government was cautiously optimistic its successful vaccination drive would save it from the deadly surge in cases seen earlier in the pandemic.

On Saturday, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz told Israeli Channel 12 TV he intended to balance public health with livelihoods.

“The economy must remain open,” he said.

“I don’t want to impose a lockdown and I will avoid a lockdown at all costs. Everything is open – but we need masks and we need vaccines.”

But about one million Israelis who are eligible for vaccines still refuse to be immunised.

The five million Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank are not part of Israel’s vaccination programme. The Israeli government has opted to vaccinate about 100,000 Palestinians who have Israeli work permits.

From Sunday, some children between ages 5 and 11 who are at risk of health complications will become eligible for vaccines.

Israelis display their ‘Green Pass’, proof of vaccination or immunity against the coronavirus, at the entrance to a performance by singer Nurit Galron at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv.

A man displays his ‘Green Pass’ at the entrance to the concert.

A elderly woman receives a booster shot of her vaccination against Covid-19 at an assisted living residence.

A woman displays her ‘Green Pass’ at the entrance to the Nurit Galron concert at Yarkon Park.

People dance at a concert.

The Nurit Galron concert for which the audience had to show green passes to gain entry.

The Nurit Galron concert for which the audience had to show green passes to gain entry.

A customer at Nashville Barber Shop gets a shave after coronavirus restrictions were eased, opening shopping centres, gyms, barber shops, among other sites in Jerusalem.

A visitor presents a coronavirus vaccination certificate at the entrance to the Khan Theatre in Jerusalem.

People present their coronavirus vaccination certificate at the entrance to the Khan Theatre in Jerusalem.

People wear face masks as they attend the Khan Theatre to watch a show in Jerusalem.

An Orthodox Christian clergy member puts on his face mask while walking out of the Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City.

A drive-through Covid-19 screening centre run by the Magen David Adom national emergency service in the car park of Yarkon Park, Tel Aviv.

Residents of an assisted living residence in Israel dance after receiving their booster shots of the vaccination against the Covid-19.

Medics, seen through a window of an observation room, wear personal protective equipment as they work inside an underground ward treating Covid-19 patients at the Critical Care Coronavirus Unit at Sheba Medical Centre in Ramat Gan.

A woman is immunised against Covid-19 as part of a Tel Aviv municipality initiative offering a free drink to people having the vaccine shot.