JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday morning enjoyed a cappuccino and cake on the terrace of a cafe in Jerusalem to mark the broadest reopening of the country’s economy since the first closure of the coronavirus began a year ago.
For the first time in months, restaurants have reopened, with restrictions on occupancy and social distance, and inside seating is only available to so-called Green Pass holders, meaning people over 16 have been fully vaccinated.
Israel has surpassed the rest of the world with vaccinations, with 55 percent of the population receiving one dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and more than 41 percent two doses. It is now an international laboratory for the efficacy of the vaccine and is becoming a test case for the practical, legal and ethical issues arising from a level system for vaccinated and vaccinated.
Event halls will reopen for Green Pass holders and events for up to 1,500 people will be allowed in stadiums and arenas. And after weeks of strict restrictions on access to the land that have claimed thousands of Israeli citizens abroad, all citizens and permanent residents will be allowed to enter the country, but with a limit on the numbers that will be available during the week. increases from 1,000 to 3,000 people per day.
“This is a wonderful day,” he said. Netanyahu said while communing with Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon in the spring sunshine. “We’re alive again.”
The “Back to Life” program is central to Mr. Netanyahu, with another vote scheduled for March 23, is Israel’s fourth in two years.
With new daily infections still in the thousands, health officials and experts have warned to open the airport to passengers from abroad who can carry contagious virus variants, and to curb political restrictions too quickly. But the government has also come under pressure from Israelis who want to return to the country to vote.