As 2020 drew to a close, Israel accelerated with its ambitious inoculation campaign, leaving behind several Western nations, including those like the UK that had started the process weeks earlier. But now, Israel’s plans are coming under fire from rights groups who say the inoculation campaign excludes Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, in a violation of human rights.
What were Israel’s plans?
After President Benjamin Netanyahu received the coronavirus vaccine on December 20, 2020, the Prime Minister’s office issued a statement that read: “If everyone gets vaccinated faster, we will restore life to the normalcy we knew faster, especially the economy. We will invest more resources and efforts to restore what was. We need your help; it depends on all of us. “
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after receiving the first coronavirus vaccine in Israel tonight:
“I feel great; go get vaccinated. We are emerging from the darkness of the coronavirus into a great light.– Israel PM (@IsraeliPM) December 19, 2020
Israel’s ambitious inoculation plans involve a nearly 24×7 process, with priority for healthcare workers and other high-risk groups receiving the first dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. “If everyone cooperates, both in strict compliance with the rules and in vaccination, we will get out of this and it is very likely that Israel will be the first country in the world to do so,” Netanyahu’s statement read.
This comes months after Israel experienced a spike in Covid-19 infections in September and October 2020, forcing the government to consider a second nationwide lockdown, after the first was implemented in the spring of last year.
Why is it criticized?
According to a report by The Guardian, Israel’s vaccination plans do not include Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. ReliefWeb, the humanitarian information portal under the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued a joint statement with other international organizations, urging Israel to “comply with its legal obligations.”
The statement pointed to Article 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention to emphasize its position on why Israel was obliged to follow “the adoption and application of prophylactic and preventive measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics.”
Israeli settlers living and working in the West Bank are being inoculated in this campaign, but Palestinians in the region may have to wait longer to receive the vaccine at the facilities of COVAX, a global initiative led by the WHO to provide the Covid vaccine. -19 to vulnerable communities. According to the Guardian report, the vaccine may only be available in the Palestinian territories in early to mid-2021, with the initiative committed to vaccinating 20 percent of Palestinians.
How will this affect the region?
Although Israel is rushing to vaccinate its population, with roughly 150,000 people vaccinated per day, the process may slow down given the number of Palestinians working outside the West Bank every day and the number of Israelis working in the Palestinian territories. The number of infections would continue to rise if only a section of the residents were inoculated, leaving the rest vulnerable, thus ruining Israel’s inoculation plans. Israel has a population of close to nine million people.
What are the policies involved?
The Palestinian Authority has not requested official assistance from Israel regarding the vaccine. “As of now, there is no agreement, and we cannot say that there is anything practical on the ground in this regard,” said Ali Abed Rabbo, director general of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, according to The Guardian.
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Initial news reports had suggested that Israel would provide surplus vaccines to the Palestinian Authority. But news reports have also quoted Israeli officials as saying they are not responsible for vaccinating Palestinians under the provisions of the 1990s Oslo Accords, which state that the Palestinian National Authority is responsible for the medical care of all. Palestinians.
But rights groups have rejected this argument, calling on international stakeholders urging Israel to fulfill its “moral duties and responsibilities to assist Palestinian health systems and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”
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