Minister of Environmental Protection Gila Gamliel violated the government's lockdown instructions by traveling from her home in Tel Aviv to spend Yom Kippur in Tiberias and then lied during epidemiological questioning after contracting the virus, according to a report in "Haaretz." The Likud minister traveled to Tiberias to be with her husband's family and prayed in a synagogue there.
At first Gamilel claimed she was infected by her driver, and she only subsequently admitted the full story. On Saturday night Gamilel tweeted, "Tonight I was diagnosed positive for coronavirus. I feel well and hope to recover quickly, God willing. Have a good week and a full recovery for all those in Israel who are ill."
Gamliel said, "I worked within the restrictions of the lockdown in order to continue my routine public activities and at the same time as a mother of young daughters and my desire to combine the two. I erred in my judgement and should have behaved differently. I aoplogize to the public and will pay the required fine."
Gamilel is not alone in ignoring government instructions on the lockdown. MK Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid) visited his family during the Sukkot holiday last weekend. Levy says his son lives within walking distance of him in Mevaseret Zion and he went to take him food for the holiday and he sat for a short while in his son's garden before returning home.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel has called on Gamliel to resign. "at a time when the public is expected to obey tough instructions, it should not be possible that a public presentative flouts them. We are at the height of a crisis of trust between the public and politicians and this violation only makes a bad situation worse."
"An epidemiological investigation is not a privilege but an obligation for every citizen infected with the virus and is designed first and foremost to protect the public. To apparently lie knowingly in the investigation does the most serious harm to the public welfare."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 5, 2020
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