Following are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks at the start of the Cabinet meeting today (Monday, 21 December 2020):

"I asked to convene the Cabinet for one purpose and that is to close the skies. Since the meeting last night, the mutation has spread in very many countries and it is clear to us that we are at the start of a very rapid spread.

“The viral mass entering Israel must be reduced as much as possible even as in England they are currently checking what exactly this virus is, whether it is resistant to the vaccine and additional questions. In order to do this, I ask that we duplicate what we did during the first wave of the coronavirus: To close the skies as quickly as possible."