JERUSALEM (AP) – When it comes to obtaining coronavirus vaccines that are difficult to obtain, Israel’s friends discover that the road seems to be running through Jerusalem.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday acknowledged that he had shared coronavirus vaccines with a number of friendly countries that had favored Israel in the past. Although he did not identify the countries, a list obtained by an Israeli TV station suggested that a number of them supported Israel’s claim to the disputed city of Jerusalem as its capital.
The comment comes at a time when Israel is receiving international criticism for failing to do more to share its vast stockpile of vaccines with the Palestinians. They also illustrated how the vaccine became an asset during a global shortage. which can be used for diplomatic gain.
“As the occupying power, Israel is responsible for the health of all the people under its control,” tweeted US Sen. Bernie Sanders. “It is outrageous that Netanyahu will use extra vaccines to reward his foreign allies while so many Palestinians are still waiting in the occupied territories.”
Although Israel does not make its own vaccines, Netanyahu oversaw one of the world’s most successful vaccination campaigns by securing millions of doses from the drug manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna. At a news conference, he said that Israel had already vaccinated more than 5 million people with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and that he could complete the task of accusing his 6.2 million adults within a few weeks.
He also said that Israel has an excess supply of hundreds of thousands of vaccinations against Moderna.
After noting that Israel had ‘more than enough’ vaccines for its own population, he said he had personally decided to share a symbolic number of doses with some of Israel’s allies.
He said it was done “in exchange for things we have already received, through many contacts in various areas that I will not outline here,” Netanyahu said. “I think it gives absolute benevolence.”
The Israeli public broadcaster Kan said about 100,000 Modern vaccines were being sent to about 15 allies.
These include Honduras, Guatemala, Hungary, Uganda and the Czech Republic – countries that have recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital or expressed interest in opening diplomatic offices there following the move by the Trump administration from the US embassy to the city in 2018.
Chad, which has established diplomatic ties with Israel in 2019, Mauritania, which is believed to be on the verge of restoring relations, and several other African countries that have close security ties with Israel, including Ethiopia and Kenya, have also list appears.
When asked about Netanyahu using their vaccines as a diplomatic tool, he declined to comment.
The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in the Middle East war and later annexed, as the capital of a future state. The rival claims to the city lie at the heart of the decades-long conflict, and most of the international community says that the fate of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations.
Netanyahu noted that Israel has also promised to share some vaccines with the Palestinians. Israel delivered only 2,000 Moderna doses to the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority to acquit medical workers on the West Bank.
Otherwise, the Palestinians struggled to obtain their own vaccines. The Palestinian Authority received 10,000 doses of Russian Sputnik V vaccine, while a rival of President Mahmoud Abbas delivered an additional 20,000 Sputnik vaccines to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip this week. after delivery from the United Arab Emirates.
Together, these vaccines will cover only a small fraction of the millions of Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority has said it expects to receive more vaccines through the World Health Organization’s COVAX program and other offerings, but it remains unclear when the medicine will arrive.
Wasel Abu Yusuf, a senior Palestinian official, accused Netanyahu of playing politics with a humanitarian case.
“He uses the vaccines that some countries need to gain political support for his policies, such as relocating embassies to Jerusalem,” he said. “The amount of vaccines he is talking about to Palestinians in the West Bank is very small.”
The inequality has drawn attention to the global gap in the acquisition of vaccines between rich and poor countries, and it has provoked international criticism.
Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University, said it was understandable that Israel wanted to look after its own citizens first. But “at some point, it becomes ethically grotesque,” he said.
He said it would be smarter to help them than to have a moral responsibility to the Palestinians.
“The reason this is a smart thing is that it will give Israel a huge advantage in its reputation in the region and worldwide,” he said. “If you do not share the vaccine, it will not be forgotten, because so many people die unnecessarily from preventable disease.”
UN officials and human rights groups expressed concern on inequality and said that Israel is an occupying power responsible for providing vaccinations to the Palestinians.
Israel says it does not have such a responsibility under interim peace agreements from the 1990s. Israel has vaccinated its own Arab population, including Palestinians in eastern Jerusalem annexed by Israel through the land.
But Israeli public health experts have called on the government to share the vaccines, given the widespread contact between Israelis and Palestinians. Tens of thousands of Palestinian workers work in Israel or the settlements of the West Bank.
The Biden government refrained from criticizing Israel, but expressed support for sharing vaccinations with the Palestinians. “We believe it is important that Palestinians have increased access to COVID vaccine in the coming weeks,” Ned Price said. “This is important for Israel, also for Israel’s health and security.
Netanyahu’s decision to share the vaccines with allies came under fire at home. His main rival and government partner, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, said Netanyahu made the decision unilaterally without any deliberation or oversight.
“The fact that Netanyahu trades in vaccinations of Israeli citizens who have been paid out of their tax money without tax liability shows that he thinks he is running a kingdom and not a state,” Gantz said this week.
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AP correspondents Laurie Kellman in Tel Aviv and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed reporting.