8 minute read
Opinion
OPINION Israel’s global coronavirus diplomacy efforts
OPINION PIECE AMBASSADOR DANIEL MERON, COVID-19 PROJECT MANAGER, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Two years into the pandemic, nations across the globe are still struggling to cope with the profound challenges that coronavirus poses. Israel is proud to be one of the countries on the front lines of responding to this unprecedented public health crisis.
Israel’s unique ability to deal with emergency situations, improvise and respond quickly and flexibly have all factored into its success in coping with the pandemic. With its rapid vaccine rollout last year Israel was widely praised for delivering the world’s fastest vaccination campaign in the first half of 2021, and as the first country to give a booster shot to the general public, Israel has important lessons to share. It makes sense, therefore, that the world looks to Israel as a go-to expert on how to manage the pandemic. Moreover, there is a core Jewish value that teaches us that we must help the needy during difficult times, as well as those in need of medical care. It is therefore natural that Israel has gone to great lengths to support its friends in the international community.
Israel has been heavily involved in the international coronavirus diplomacy scene, collaborating and exchanging information with countries around the world in order to save lives and help its partners cope with the public health crisis.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been at the forefront of this effort, leading the push to donate masks, respirators and other essential medical equipment to countless countries. When India was being ravaged by a severe wave of coronavirus in April of last year Israel sent entire planeloads filled with respirators and medical aid. When Romania was grappling with a crisis in November we sent a team of five of our top medical experts to share Israel’s experience in coping with similar such crises it had experienced in its hospitals. In Ghana, the Israeli embassy mobilised to produce and distribute masks to local medical teams. At the initiative of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Israel has also committed to donate over a million vaccine doses to African nations.
Mashav, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s agency for international cooperation, also has several aid and cooperation campaigns currently active around the world. It is currently in the midst of its “Better Together” initiative, which has seen assistance packages containing hundreds of kilos worth of PPE gear, syringes, medications and more sent to medical staff in 52 countries across the globe including Kenya, Peru, and Bulgaria. Mashav has also brought medical staff and administrators from Tanzania, Rwanda, Guatemala and many others to Israel for world-class seminars and lectures. Israel’s not-for-profit sector has similarly mobilised to assist the international community. IsraAID, one of Israel’s leading NGOs, just finished a six-month project in Eswatini, where an Israeli team set up and managed an operations centre for distributing vaccines, training medical staff, and more.
Exchanging information is also key to managing the pandemic and the information that Israel has shared on its vaccine campaign and booster shots has undoubtedly saved lives. Dr Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the US government, praised Israel’s vaccine rollout and named Israel as the leading example of “where you should want to be” on coronavirus vaccines and often “refers people to how successful the Israelis have been in getting virtually every age group boostered”.
Senior Israeli Health Ministry officials have played a key role in the effort to exchange information. To this end the Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs have held joint discussions with Germany, South Korea and the United States, including with several state health commissioners, on Israel’s insights and best practices on the latest outbreak, including its experience with administering the vaccine boosters. Australia also shortened its waiting period for the booster shot, as well as its mandatory quarantine period, following information shared by Israel during a briefing with senior officials down under.
Israel’s innovative digital healthcare and telehealth systems have also served as an example for others to look to. Israel has been widely credited with revolutionising the way the world thinks about health and has positioned itself at the forefront of the effort to create a data-centric system of medicine. In fact, the Israeli national healthcare system’s already-sophisticated level of digitisation was one aspect that helped make the country’s ambitious vaccination drive so successful. Moreover, the advent of COVID-19 brought the topic of telemedicine to the fore of the global tech discourse and Israel made it a priority to be a leader in this field.
HealthIL, a joint venture of the Israeli Ministry of Economy, Digital Israel Bureau and the Israel Innovation Institute seeks to improve healthcare by supporting innovation in the field, bridging the gap between the tech community and the public health sector. By centralising Israel’s global healthcare innovation ecosystem, HealthIL is bringing Israeli health tech to the world by collaborating across organisations, connecting demand and supply, and streamlining innovation change management.
Israel is eager to join hands with the international community in order to effectively address this current global challenge, as well as the ones to come. Ultimately, the world will only succeed in collectively overcoming this pandemic if we work together and cooperate. Moreover, health cooperation during the coronavirus crisis has also served as an important bridge between nations and for peace.
It is Israel’s hope that Omicron will be the last of the pandemic and we are looking forward to continuing to share our insights and experiences with the world in all spheres of crisis management and public health.
Where is the centre ground?
OPINION PIECE BY ROBERT FESTENSTEIN
For some time now, there has been a shift in the structure of UK Jewry. When I was growing up in the 1970s people who were shomer Shabbat were seen as serious ‘frummers’. There were people who were even more frum, and these were limited to Gateshead and Stamford Hill and not regarded as part of the mainstream.
Over the years, new religious groups have emerged. Their approach is more orthodox still and as a group within the community they are growing, both in numbers and as a proportion of UK Jewry as a whole. This has had the impact of moving the centre ground to the religious right so that the traditional United Synagogue shuls are now seen as occupying that centre, whereas when I was a teenager, they were more to the right.
Much has been written about the growth of these more religious groups or ultra orthodox, about their lack of adherence to secular rules, particularly during the pandemic and whether or not they have any interest in the wider world. What is missing though is any proper analysis of what constitutes someone who is on the religious right. There is no agreed list or guide. Does being ultra orthodox mean not sending children to university? Does it mean not having a smart phone or a television? Or none of these.
In the absence of a consensus of what makes someone ultra orthodox it is surprising that some communal organisations have expressed interest in reaching out to them. In simple terms who should be approached? This may or may not be the right idea in terms of inclusivity, but there is a risk which is being missed. At present there is an uneasy alliance between the various strands of UK Jewry from the Federation of Synagogues on one side and the Liberal and Progressive Communities on the other.
Insert another group which is more religious than the Federation and there is a risk that this alliance could break down. That is not a reason to do nothing, it is though a reason to think carefully about the outcome. It might be that the attitude towards women of one group would mean that another would refuse to take part. Or the other way around, where one group accept women as counting towards a minyan would be a red line for another.
Instead of rushing off to include the ultra orthodox (still not sure of what this means), the sensible route should be for those seeking to do so is to understand themselves what their group represents, what can be sacrificed and what is a deal breaker. In other words, a Shul would not invite a group advocating the banning of shechita to an evening about Kosher food.
As the Community evolves it is important that these changes are recognised and the organisations within it take notice and respond. It is just as important that thought and consideration is applied, since otherwise, in haste to include a group on one side of the religious spectrum a group on the other will walk away. Any move to extend the membership of groups needs to be a marathon, not a sprint if the enterprise has any chance of success.
Robert Festenstein is a practising solicitor and has been the principal of his Salford based firm for over 20 years. He has fought BDS motions to the Court of Appeal and is President of the Zionist Central Council in Manchester which serves to protect and defend the democratic State of Israel.
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