PM Netanyahu: We are called upon to make tough decisions, necessary decisions, decisions that save lives. We do not have the privilege of knowing that we could have prevented additional mortality and did not do so.
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Following are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks, last night (Wednesday, 23 September 2020), at the start of the Cabinet meeting:
"My friends, ministers, I know that it is late but in more than one sense, we are facing the moment of truth. The second wave of the coronavirus is hitting the entire world; it is also hitting us. The morbidity in Israel is rising. The number of severe cases is rising. To my sorrow, so is the number of deaths. Over the past two days we have heard from the experts that if we do not take tough and immediate measures, we will reach the edge of the abyss.
“In order to save Israeli citizens' lives, we are now called upon to impose a total lockdown for two weeks, from this Friday until after Simchat Torah. Afterwards we will continue with two additional weeks of lockdown, I hope with fewer restrictions, but I say in advance, it depends on the morbidity data. To the extent that situation allows, we will return quickly to the 'traffic light' plan and conduct a coronavirus routine. The goal is to lower the rate of morbidity; the explicit goal is to save many lives in Israel.
“This is also required for the good of the economy. Whoever thinks we can work with a surging pandemic, with rising mortality and morbidity, without this affecting the economy – is mistaken and if we need to act and take tough measures, it is preferable to do so now during the holidays, when the economy is in a lower gear.
“The two most important things, beyond the decisions that we are making, and they require the full cooperation of each and every citizen – these two things are wearing masks, and I am pleased to see that in the studios they are now wearing masks, and the second thing is avoiding gatherings.
“But we are called upon to make decisions and leadership mean making tough decisions, the necessary decisions, the decisions that save lives. We do not have the privilege of knowing that we could have prevented additional mortality and did not do so. This is our responsibility; as elected representatives we must act now, and I tell you, act together, for the citizens of Israel."