https://www.jns.org/opinion/coronavirus-double-speak/
JNS) Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s announcement on Sunday evening of additional steps to confront the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus illustrates how easily government policies can be inherently contradictory.
Even when giving the benefit of the doubt to hysterical health authorities—and refraining from the natural inclination to suspect ulterior motives for fanning the flames of a crisis—it’s hard not to be disdainful of the double-speak surrounding anything coronavirus-related. This isn’t exclusive to Israeli decision-makers, of course. No, the hysteria is so infectious that it’s been spreading across the globe faster than the pandemic.
But Israel is what one Pfizer executive called a “sort of laboratory.” Though the pharmaceutical giant’s chief scientific officer, Philip Dormitzer, was referring to the Jewish state’s vaccine drive, the same has been said about other elements of the war against the microbe and its mutations. These include stringent lockdowns, imposed early on and more than once by the previous government, led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ironically, the crushing of businesses and people’s spirits executed in the name of public health contributed greatly to electoral defeats, including Netanyahu’s, and caused serious dissatisfaction with leaders everywhere. This was inevitable.
When the economy and morale sink, the person at the helm is blamed for it. This was true of former President Donald Trump, who was criticized for being too dismissive of the dangers of the virus, and it was equally the case where Netanyahu was concerned, although he took the exact opposite approach to that of Trump.
Indeed, despite his staunch free-market outlook, Netanyahu, like many Israelis, can’t seem to shake the nanny-state mentality when it comes to dictating regulations for the good of the populace. In this respect, the Bennett-led coalition is worse—not necessarily in practice, but in ideology—because contains factions that actually believe in centralism, not merely revert to it out of cultural habit.