Backlash against Netanyahu as Israel enters second coronavirus wave

Daily cases have spiked from 16 to 200 within a month,  the National Center for Information and Knowledge in the Battle Against Coronavirus said, announcing the second wave of the infection on Sunday.

"Tomorrow I will convene the Corona Cabinet and we'll discuss necessary steps for stopping the spread of the pandemic," Netanyahu said on Sunday, at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.

"If we don't change immediately our behaviour regarding wearing masks and keeping distance we will bring upon ourselves, against our will, a return to lockdowns," he added.

Read also: Israel suspends parliament sessions after Palestinian lawmaker contracts coronavirus

Netanyahu claimed that every effort was being made to develop a vaccine, as he receives backlash.

Israeli media has lashed out at Tel Aviv’s strategy in dealing with the pandemic.

Israeli journalist Nadaf Eyal criticised the government in a Yedioth Ahronoth op-ed which has since been widely shared.

“This is not the fault of the public (mostly). This is on the government,” he wrote.

“What exactly have they been doing for the last month and a half? You would have expected them to put together a project with a major national scope, one that could turn Israel into a world leader in the fight against the coronavirus and cleanse it of the disease, like New Zealand.”

Israel currently has over 20,000 confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus disease, with the number of new cases increasing by more than 300 in recent days.

At least 305 Israelis have died of coronavirus since the beginning of the outbreak in March.

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