A Minister for War on Corona?
Israel’s infection
number has passed 3,000, with 13 deaths. (Israel’s Pop. @9
million). Not bad considering a country like Switzerland, Pop. 8.5
million, that has over 12,000 infected and 500 dead. Or the
Netherlands, Pop. 17 million with 8,600 infected and over 1,100
deaths. Belgium, Pop @11 million with 7,284 infected and 1,049
deaths. Or New York City Pop. 8.6 million with 23,000 cases, 365
deaths.
As the guy falling
for the top of the Empire State Building told a secretary who had her
head out the window and asked him how he was doing and he answered,
as we all know, “So far so good.”
Personally, I like
the old-time comedian Heni Youngman’s schtick. “How’re you
doing?” someone asked him. “Better,” he answered. “Better?”
the questioner asked. “Yeah, better you shouldn’t ask.”
Israel is gearing up
to meet the challenge of the virus. Reportedly, the Mossad has
secured 100,000 testing kits. Israel is scouring the markets to buy
more inhalation machines. If the infection rate continues to climb,
say, experts, physicians may have to choose which patient gets the
oxygen and which doesn’t, and dies. Not a pleasant choice. One
Israel is trying to avoid.
So far, with a world
population of 7.8 billion, the world total of those infected has
climbed to over half-a-million and the end is not yet near. According
to the data, 191 out of 195 countries have been infected.
However, total
deaths, 22,000 deaths so far worldwide, are only a fraction of
those who perished in the Spanish Influence of 1918 (Jan 1918 –
Dec 1920) where half a billion people were reportedly infected and 10
percent, approximately 50 million, died of the virus.
Today, according to
Johns Hopkins University date, “The current global mortality rate
now stands at around 4.5%.” Also, according to the World Health
Organization, “A variety of factors affects the mortality rate:
geography, the quality of health care, age of the population, lifestyle and underlying conditions. In China, the mortality rate for
CV-19 has been 4%. In Italy, it’s about 10%.
In Iran, it’s about 7.6%. In Germany, it’s less than 1% and in
the U.S., where the outbreak is just getting underway, it’s about
1.5%.
"The mortality rate generally drops as testing rises and more
patients are identified. But epidemiologists caution that the reverse
can be true as U.S. hospitals get inundated and run out of
necessary equipment, like ventilators, to treat patients who might
have otherwise been saved. They also say it takes weeks for the virus
to infiltrate a community and several more before people are sick
enough to die. So it will be several months before the true mortality
rate can be quantified in the U.S. or elsewhere.”
According to the
WHO, “Many scientists think, or are at least hopeful, that the
mortality rate will fall as more people are tested and mild cases
that have previously gone undetected are identified.”
In Israel pundits
have said that the Israeli defense forces should take over the
management of the virus.
The ministry of defense has the manpower and technical resources at its disposal that do
not exist in the private sector. For that reason alone the proposed
appointment of former chief-of-staff Gen (res.) Benny Gantz is a wise
choice, say the observers. The ministry of defense has been likened
to an old-boys network. An outsider has to struggle to get things
done. Gantz, once the star of the army, has an inside track. Coupled
with another former chief-of-staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, who is slated to
become Foreign Minister, consolidating the considerable resources of
the defense establishment should be manageable.
Gantz has run into
both criticism and praise for his move to join Netanyahu. Gantz said
that in this time of crises a national unity government was
imperative and he was not going to stand in the way of fighting the war
against the virus based on personal considerations. Some analysts
laud him for this path. Others say that he was just looking for a way
to become Prime Minister, (he would take that position after
18-months in a rotation agreement). Others say that by alienating his Blue and White partners Lapid and Ya'alon, who now become part of the opposition, Netanyahu will be hard put to pass any legislation in the Knesset. (Gantz says that's why he became Speaker, to get bills assigned to a committee and passed quickly.)
Whatever the
reasons, a national unity government will soon be established,
assuming Gantz and Netanyahu reach terms, which seems likely, and the
business of government could carry on. A budget could be prepared and
passed. Resources could be tapped to fight the plague, and the
country could unify in the war.
Gantz is to become
Minister of Defence, after he gives up his temporary role as Speaker of the Knesset, and Ashkenazi Foreign Minister. Gantz’s scaled-down party, the group left after the disintegration of Blue and
White, will garner approximately 11 ministerial seats. Avraham
Rabinovitch, political commentator for Channel 12, thought this a
bloated and inordinately expensive government that would have over 30
cabinet posts. He also didn’t think Gantz would fare any better
than others who trusted Netanyahu. Men like Avigdor Leiberman, and
Moshe ‘Bougie’ Ayalon who were cast out by Netanyahu and became
his fierce enemies.
However, Gantz also
gets the Justice Ministry and has sworn that democracy will be
protected. His proposed Justice Minister, Chili Trooper, said on
Israel TV last night that there would be no French Law passed,
referring to the law passed in the French parliament to ensure that
indicted PM Jacques Chiraq would not be prosecuted until he finished
his term in office.
Should Gantz really
be a patriot and have the countries best interests at heart, or was
he out for himself.
Time will tell. If
he becomes the general leading the war against the virus and succeeds
in keeping that plague from overrunning Israel, he will have
justified his dismembering Blue and White. If not?
He’ll be tossed
out by Netanyahu like others before him. And the country will still
be faced with a pandemic managed by amateurs.
“
