Israel’s prime minister gets a hard lesson in pandemic politics

JUST TWO months ago, in early June, cases of covid-19 were waning in Israel. With one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, the country seemed to be nearly done with the virus. Masks were discarded and restrictions lifted. But the end was illusory. The spread of the Delta variant has caused a spike in new cases. More than 8,000 were logged on August 17th.The Delta variant may have entered Israel before Naftali Bennett became prime minister on June 13th, but he has taken a beating over his handling of the outbreak. The government “received the country in the best state in the world in regard to coronavirus”, says Binyamin Netanyahu, who preceded Mr Bennett and is now leader of the opposition. The prime minister, says Mr Netanyahu, has spoiled that success.