Israeli Lawmakers Debate Controversial COVID-19 Bill

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – As Israel sees a spike in COVID-19 cases following the easing of lockdown restrictions, government leaders began to debate a controversial new bill Tuesday that would give the executive branch wide-ranging emergency powers to manage the virus outbreak, CBN News reported. The bill must first be approved by a special COVID-19 government committee before going on to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation and to the Knesset for approval.

According to CBN, the proposed new emergency legislation is based on a previous bill that would have allowed police to enter people’s homes without warrants and forcefully impose government coronavirus rules. The previous bill had caused an outcry and accusations that the government would have violated civil liberties with such a law. Accordingly, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Monday that the government would soften the bill so that it does not impose on personal rights.

Under the new law, police would need a warrant to enter a private home, CBN reported. In a statement, Netanyahu confirmed: “Regarding civil rights and privacy rights, I spoke with the Public Security Minister and we agreed unequivocally that we will not allow security forces to break into citizens’ homes without a warrant.”

The new law would uphold the right to protest, but give police authority to break up gatherings with a threat of fines or jail sentences. The bill also allows the government to enforce lockdowns, quarantines and social distancing rules. Moreover, it allows the state to lock down individual neighborhoods for one week. The bill also allows the government to declare a state of emergency for 30 days, a period that can be extended every 30 days for up to 10 months.

Israel began to see new cases of coronavirus after a two-month lockdown was lifted. As of Sunday evening, there were 100 new cases, bringing the total to 17,900. On Tuesday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said Israel could see a “doubling of the rate of infection within ten days.” The PM added: “I very much hope not.”

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