Israelis Adjust to Lockdown as Coronavirus Cases Mount // FAI ONLINE

Israelis are tested for coronavirus at one of many mobile testing stations around the country. (Credit: TV7 Israel News, English)

Israelis continued to adjust to life under lock-down as 8 battalions of unarmed Israeli soldiers deployed across the country to assist police with enforcement of public health orders related to the coronavirus pandemic. Defense Minister Naftali Bennett suggested the deployment of additional IDF battalions as the total number of cases in the tiny nation approached 2000 this week.

The Israeli military is augmenting local authorities as they ensure that Israeli citizens comply with lock-down orders, including a mandatory social distancing minimum of two meters between individuals in public, a ban on congregation, restrictions on travel outside the home except to buy groceries or purchase medication, and a national curfew after dark. Violations can result in fines up to 5,000 shekels ($1260 Euros, or $1370 USD) and even incarceration. Travel from European and Asian nations most affected by the Coronavirus is still banned, with all new arrivals from abroad mandated to undergo a two-week period of quarantine.

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The stepped-up measures, while combating the spread of the coronavirus, are impacting an Israeli economy that is partly structured upon leisure and tourism. The unemployment rate has risen from 4% to a staggering 17.5% nationwide, as Israeli business owners hunker down for a crisis that the government has warned could last until the Rosh Hashanah holiday in mid-September.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian territories also continued to grapple with the spread of the deadly virus. In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority announced its first death as the number of coronavirus cases rose to 62. Even inside the embargoed and heavily-guarded Gaza Strip, ruling Hamas authorities ordered the closure of all mosques today after the first two coronavirus cases were reported.

Meanwhile, in the Golan Heights, Israel Alliance International (the Israeli division of FAI) continues to partner with local authorities in the delivery of vital foodstuffs to vulnerable Druze and Jewish residents. We ask our global partners to join us in prayer as we ask the Lord for mercy in abating the spread of the coronavirus, divine wisdom for government officials and health professionals as they implement policy and provide treatment, and for FAI’s work in the Golan, as we provide the bread that perishes so that our neighbors might see the Bread of Life in us.