The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) has conducted its monthly ‘Israeli Voice Index.’ This index tells us a lot about Israeli opinion on COVID-19. There were 830 respondents to the survey and the questions were conducted in a mixture of Arabic and Hebrew. The respondents are a representative cross-section of Israeli society in terms of age, gender and ethnicity.

One interesting result from this investigation is that when asked how they would rank the government’s performance in handling the pandemic medically on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 10 (excellent), 29% of respondents rated it 10/10:

The Israeli supreme court has been the focus of much media attention recently, most notably for giving the go-ahead to the new coalition government between Netanyahu and Gantz. This decision was undoubtedly a great disappointment and a blow to Israeli democracy, allowing a man with three charges of corruption to serve at the highest level of government. However, there have been some smaller human rights victories in the courts recently surrounding the coronavirus.

From Aviva Meyer, APN Vice Chair, who has served as interim CEO:

Each country has its own unique challenges to deal with when it comes to combating the coronavirus due to the physical, social and economic make-up of the state. Therefore, comparing countries is never a like-for-like scenario but it can be useful in determining what actions are useful and harmful in the response. The UAE, Japan and Austria all have a similar number of recorded cases to Israel (16,289 cases), so what can be learned from them as Israel begins to reopen?

Published May 4

The most serious setback to peace in the Middle East has taken place under the cloud of the coronavirus and the internal Israeli political scene. A chance, however, still exists for a unified Arab coalition with action by American Jews to create a firewall that will help preserve a chance for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

As part of the deal for the emergency government between the Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival and former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, an Israeli government-in-the-making is on the record as supporting unilateral annexation of large swaths of the West Bank.

Israel appears to be set on a dangerous anti-peace act that will destroy the very fragile and quickly lapsing chance for a Palestinian-Israeli two-state peace deal.

Jordan:

Israel’s most connected neighbor has fared relatively well throughout this crisis. The number of COVID-19 cases as of May 1st stood at 453 and deaths at 8 (population 10 million). Since Monday April 27^th, there have not been more than 2 cases confirmed per day and there have been some days with no new cases. This shows a country that truly has gone through its curve – Jordan’s most cases in a day were 40 just over a month ago and this has steadily declined since. The Jordanian government was swift and harsh in its response to the virus, which is likely why they have managed to keep numbers so low.

Yossi Alpher, an independent security expert, provided analysis of the Netanyahu-Gantz coalition agreement and other questions relating to Israeli politics at the APN’s briefing call on Thursday, April 30.

LISTEN:

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponent-turned-coalition-partner Benny Gantz agreed this week to embark on West Bank annexation procedures as early as July 1st. Their agreement is a clause in the deal they signed to form an "emergency" unity government, following long weeks of negotiations.

Yossi Alpher, an independent security analyst, is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with Israel’s Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. He is the author of Hard Questions Tough Answers, APN’s weekly analysis of Israeli and Middle Eastern strategic affairs.

As the West Bank begins to reopen, having had no recorded cases for two days, it is important to look ahead at what the future holds for the economy of the area. This is a useful endeavor for two reasons – it shows how crucial maintaining strict infection prevention measures is and allows us to start considering how the long-term economic impacts can be managed.

9,808 on 15 April

This was the number of active cases in Israel when the COVID-19 epidemic was at its peak in mid-April. Although each of these cases represents a person and a family struggling with this terrible disease, this number is encouragingly lower than many comparable states. Israel was quick to implement measures such as travel bans and quarantines. This appears to have made a big difference. The key now for Israeli health authorities, as lockdown measures are gradually relaxed in Israel and elsewhere, is trying to make sure the number of cases does not reach this level again.