Israel Week Ending August 13th
Covid, Israel and Morocco, Security, and Business
MILITARY & SECURITY
It was a relatively quiet week in terms of security. On Monday, Hamas released balloons from Gaza that caused a series of fires near the border. Israel responded with an air attack against Hamas targets in Gaza. On Wednesday, the army downed a Hezbollah drone that flew into Israeli territory from Lebanon. That same morning, the IDF knocked out a drone from Gaza after it crossed the border.
One area that received attention in Israeli media this week is the relatively large number of Palestinians killed by the IDF on the West Bank during the past month. Reportedly, IDF Chief of Staff Kochavi urged the commanders in the West Bank to find less-lethal responses.
In an unusual move, Human Rights Watch accused Hamas of war crimes for their indiscriminate firing at Israeli civilians, and their responsibility for the deaths of Gaza civilians, killed when Hamas missiles fell short of Israel, landing onto civilians below.
On a completely different note, the army has decided to change the way it evaluates soldiers before they enlist. The plan is to offer a more holistic testing program. For olim, the IDF also intends to eliminate the requirement that soldiers pass a certain level of Hebrew to be considered for a post that might lead to a command position or officers’ school.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid was in Morocco this week, on a two-day visit to open Israel’s interest section. During Lapid’s visit, it was announced that Israel and Morocco would upgrade to full diplomatic relations in the next two months. Lapid also extended an invitation to visit Israel from President Herzog to King Hassan.
This week also marked one year since the Abraham Accords, and the establishment of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Shared defense and economic interests have allowed that relationship to thrive.
CIA Director William Burns visited Israel this week. Burns met with Prime Minister Bennett, Defense Minster Gantz, and his counterparts in Israeli Intelligence. The central topic of discussion was Iran. A great deal of uncertainty exists as to whether Iran wants to return to the Nuclear agreement, and it's finally dawning on many in Israel that while Netanyahu and others were against the agreement with Iran, without an agreement, and without worldwide sanctions, maybe the worst outcome of all.
COVID–19
Unfortunately, the dominant news from Israel this past week has been the rapid increase of Covid cases and hospitalizations here, brought about by the Delta variant. I wrote an article earlier this week on the failure of the government to do anything to stop the virus from spreading. My article reflected deep anger in this new government, almost that of a jilted lover. I wanted this new government, but I am appalled at its relative inability to make decisions and impose any significant limitations that might slow the spread of the disease. Israel’s Failing Covid Response: The Sequel
Now to the facts at the moment: We are currently averaging 6,000 new Covid cases each day. Three weeks ago, we had peaked at 1,400 cases. Last week, the daily number of those infected reached 3,800. So our numbers are doubling every ten days, or so. Worse, the number of seriously ill has reached 462 today; with 102 dying this week.
Thanks to a combination of the vaccines, and the fact that those catching the virus are younger only 1% of those infected become seriously ill. However, that means even if we were to take stringent efforts today to limit the spread, we can expect 60 new seriously ill patients per day for another 1-2 weeks. To accommodate these numbers, the government has promised to increase the number of doctors in hospitals, something that cannot be implemented instantly. The government is also talking about deploying home care for seriously ill patients, who would typically be hospitalized. Other actions are to call on military doctors and medics to care for patients. Without a doubt, all of these stop-gap measures will lower the standard of care.
Israel has now taken the unprecedented step of providing a third vaccine booster for everyone over age 50. It started two weeks ago with those over 60 and now has been lowered to those over 50. Medical personnel will also get the booster vaccine. All of these people were among the first to receive the vaccines here, and based on the latest data, the vaccine's potency begins to wane after 5-6 months. Initial findings indicate that taking the booster decreases the chance of infection by 50%. It is too early to know what effect the booster has on serious illnesses. There have been no known cases of severe side effects from taking the third dose.
The government is placing all of its eggs in the vaccine and booster basket. It may work. I certainly hope so. But those chances would be much greater if the government had imposed limitations on large gatherings. There are a multitude of options to implement between mandating a full lockdown and permitting events with 1,000 attendees to take place, and this government has been remarkably slow to act.
Finally, the opening of the school year (currently scheduled for September 1) seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Despite having months to plan, nothing was done to reduce class size, increase spacing, ventilation, or attendance to other school matters. Worse, the plan does not call for quarantining classes when there is an infected student, rather, just requiring parents of that classmate to test their kids every day.
There are multiple problems with the planned program … First, during the previous Covid wave, parents in Israel did not check their kid's temperature every day. How can we expect them to test for Corona every day — with home test kits that are not yet available? In addition, a child can test negative one day, and positive the next. In the meantime, that student can infect the rest of the school, not to mention their grandparents, who are likely taking care of them after school.
In short, the worst is yet to come. Due to the string of Fall holidays, there are only six school days in September. How the suggestion to delay the opening the school year until after the holidays has not received serious consideration, is a mystery.
BUSINESS
Epsagon, a four-year-old Israeli company that has developed a platform to identify and correct problems in cloud apps, has been purchased by Cisco for $400 million. Until now, the company raised $30 million, so that purchase will be a rich payday for its early investors, founders, and employees with options.
This week, there was an interesting article the TheMarker on how aggressive Apple's recruitment activities in Israel have been. Apple, which designs most of its custom semiconductors here, has 1,700 employees in Israel and, according to its website, has 160 open positions. Unfortunately, what it still does not have in Israel is an Apple Store.
There is also no Amazon warehouse, although, before the pandemic, there was talk of Amazon opening a local distribution center. Amazon has resumed free shipping to Israel, which might be a sign of things to come.
AWZ Ventures raised $82.5 million for a joint fund with the Israeli Defense Ministry R&D arm. The goal is to invest in technology start-ups that are of interest to the IDF and might also have a civilian application. This fund provides a substantial boost to the money available to the Minister of Defense for R&D.
AFGHANISTAN
One final note: the ongoing American disaster in Afghanistan will have implications for Israel, but its too early to speculate the full nature and extent.