Israel is apparently heading toward its third Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown, even before it has completely exited from the second lockdown and as the Netanyahu government fails to contend with the mounting wave of infections.

The Corona Cabinet met on Sunday evening for several hours but did not decide on any operative decisions. It will convene again on Monday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated after the meeting that the COVID-19 vaccines are on the way, and “we must lower the morbidity that is at the beginning of a third wave.”

While claiming that Israel has “reduced morbidity and mortality at almost the lowest level among European countries,” he said that was achieved because “we did it because we did not hesitate to make the right decisions in time. Even now I will not hesitate to return some of the restrictions, and the sooner we return them, the shorter the time limit will be.”

The Ministry of Health is calling for the immediate imposition of new restrictions, even though Israel has not completely eased the restrictions imposed in September.

The government knows that between 40-50% of the infections come from the Arab sector which does not abide by the regulations, holds mass events and takes vacations in countries with high morbidity, and especially in Turkey, but ignores the mandatory quarantine required when returning from these countries.

The government has not taken any targeted actions against these breaches of law, the police have failed to enforce the law, and it appears that the government is choosing the easy path of imposing a nation-wide lockdown rather than contending with these issues.

The Ministry of Health updated Monday that it recorded 1,230 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Some 37,000 Corona tests were performed in the last day, with 3.3% of them returning positive.

According to the data, 331 patients are hospitalized in serious condition, of whom 112 are on life support.

The health system is far from being overburdened, but experts warn that the current trajectory of the infection rate will tax it in the coming weeks.

2,917 corona patients have died in Israel since the outbreak in February.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry’s “Women in Diplomacy Network” together with the governments of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Bahrain held a first of its kind panel examining the role of women in diplomacy 20 years after the adoption of UN Resolution 1325.

In 2000, the UN’s Security Council (UNSC) formally acknowledged through Resolution 1325 the changing nature of warfare, in which civilians are increasingly targeted, and women continue to be excluded from participation in peace processes.

The resolution specifically addresses how women and girls are disproportionally impacted by violent conflict and war and recognizes the critical role that women can and already do play in peacebuilding efforts.

Thursday’s virtual event featured three distinguished and pioneering diplomats, Ambassador Meirav Eilon Shahar, Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Houda Nonoo, Bahraini Foreign Ministry and former Ambassador to the US, and Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, Permanent Representative of the UAE to the UN in New York

The event “stressed the importance of the active involvement of women in promoting peace and security in the Middle East and beyond,” Israel’s Mission to the UN said in a stamen.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan, who proposed holding this unique Women in Diplomacy Network event in his first meeting with his Gulf partners, opened the session by stressing the importance of implementing UNSC1325and spoke of the essential need for advancing gender equality worldwide, in line with UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 5.

“It is essential that women are included on every level of decision-making because a world with gender equality is a better world for all its inhabitants,” said Erdan.

During the event, moderated by Network founder and board member, Sarah Weiss Ma’udi, currently the Legal Adviser of Israel’s UN Mission in New York, Ambassadors Eilon Shahar, Nonoo, and Nusseibeh highlighted a number of challenging issues facing women diplomats in today’s Middle East.

“The panelists emphasized the importance of the active inclusion of women at the highest levels of decision-making in their three respective countries and discussed their own visions for how gender must play a role in the newfound peace between their countries,” the statement said.

Ambassador Nonoo noted that “I am Bahraini. I am a woman. I am a mother. I am Jewish. I come from a progressive nation that allows the best leaders to lead no matter who they are.”

Ambassador Nusseibeh asserted that “the UAE and Israel are champions of gender equality in our region, and we believe that the peace agreement between our two countries is already beginning to foster partnerships that will unlock enormous opportunities for women in the region.”

The three ambassadors also shared their own personal experiences as women working in the field of diplomacy.

This event was one of the first official joint events between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE, just a month and a half after the signing of the Abraham Accords.

The three ambassadors pledged to continue the important dialogue on gender and other issues of mutual interest.

The “Women in Diplomacy Network” is an initiative run by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs aimed at creating partnerships between Israeli and foreign women diplomats and promoting the advancement of women in foreign service.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Gilad Erdan welcomed the drop in the support for the annual series of anti-Israel resolutions submitted Wednesday to the General Assembly at the request of the Palestinians.

Following an intense diplomatic effort by Israel, several countries changed their voting patterns on the resolutions, known as the “Palestinian package,” causing an increase in the number of countries opposing some of them entirely.

“I would like to thank the countries that changed their voting pattern in favor of Israel. They have voted against the systematic anti-Israel bias at the UN,” said Erdan. “I also would like to extend special thanks to the countries that stand by Israel’s side each year in opposing these despicable resolutions.”

“No other country in the world faces such discrimination in the UN, and it is time for more UN members to join us in changing this organization’s anti-Israel agenda,” he said.

“The countries that supported Israel today have understood that this package of resolutions does nothing to forward peace but serves only to entrench the Palestinian’s rejectionist position and deepen the conflict,” he added.

Germany, Austria and Bulgaria were among the countries that switched from abstaining to opposing some of the resolutions. Slovenia, Switzerland and Papua New Guinea moved from abstaining to voting against the resolution on the Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat, while Singapore, Eritrea and Uruguay moved from voting in favor to abstention.

In another resolution dealing with the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which produces reports and activities reflecting only the Palestinian narrative, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany and Papua New Guinea moved from abstention to voting against, and Uruguay and Iceland moved from voting in favor to abstaining.

In his remarks at the General Assembly prior to the vote, Erdan said that “for decades, this assembly has met to discuss the so-called question of Palestine. Yet every year, the discussion produces no realistic solutions and no useful changes to the situation. To any outside listener, it is clear why the answers to this question remain forever elusive: these yearly debates are completely detached from reality.”

Erdan pointed out that this year’s resolutions failed to refer to the groundbreaking Abraham Accords peace agreements signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

“Can this forum be any more detached from the real world?” Erdan asked. “For years, the Palestinians have held the interests of the Arab world hostage while the international community has cynically voted in favor of its resolutions. Arab countries were forbidden from recognizing Israel’s existence and banned from having relations with us unless we surrendered to the Palestinians outrageous demands. Thankfully, the Abraham Accords have shattered that paradigm.”

Israel is entering its third wave of Coronavirus (COVID-19), Dr. Sharon Elroi-Price, the head of the public health services at the Ministry of Health warned, as the number of new daily cases is rising.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday on the increase in the coronavirus cases in Israel, Elroi-Price noted that “we do not yet know the effects of the opening of the economy. A further increase in infection is expected.”

Israel entered a second full lockdown in September and has been gradually relaxing the restrictions in recent weeks, but has yet to fully open the economy.

Elroi-Price further pointed out that 90 localities are in a worsening trend.

“This is the beginning of the third wave,” she stated.

Most of the infections are coming from travelers who have returned from visits in countries with high infection rates, and especially Turkey, a favored destination by Arab-Israelis. Many of those returning from these countries do not maintain the mandatory quarantine and cause the virus to spread, she said.

As for the upcoming holiday of Chanukah and the New Year events, no curfew has yet been decided on, it’s still under discussion, she said.

She further noted a change in the trend in morbidity, where 50% of the morbidity is in the general sector, 41% in the Arab sector, and 9% in the ultra-Orthodox sector.

The Arabs consist of some 20% of the population.

The Ministry of Health updated Wednesday that it recorded 1,182 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Of the 63,993 tests done over the weekend, 1.9% returned positive.

According to the data, 266 corona patients are hospitalized in serious condition, of them 94 are on life support.

Odelia Fitoussi was elected Monday to represent Israel on the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a development lauded by Jerusalem as an unprecedented achievement.

Fitoussi, who was born with muscular dystrophy (SMA2), will become the first Israeli elected to serve on this prestigious committee, which is among the most sought-after UN expert committees.

The CRPD is the leading UN body responsible for formulating a global policy for the 182 signatory states to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

In the election held at the UN headquarters in New York, representatives from 27 countries competed for nine slots on the committee. Israel won in the first round, receiving support from 109 countries.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan, congratulated Fitousi on her victory, saying she “had brought immense pride” to Israel in one of the most important issues and that her selection had “moved him greatly.”

“It represents a true triumph of the human spirit,” said Erdan. “Israel’s extensive experience in the field of rights for people with disabilities will contribute greatly to the committee’s activities and will have a positive influence on the lives of many around the world. I am sure that Odelia will be an excellent ambassador and achieve great things.”

Over the past year, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Israel’s Mission to the United Nations have led a diplomatic effort in capitals around the world and in New York with UN member states to mobilize support for Fitoussi’s candidacy.

Fitoussi herself met with more than 100 diplomats from around the globe. Erdan discussed her candidacy in his meetings with other UN ambassadors and even succeeded in garnering support from representatives of some Arab countries, which usually refrain from supporting Israeli candidates in UN bodies.

Fitoussi said she feels “privileged to be a member of the CRPD, the place where Israel was a partner in creating a new language for people with disabilities, a language of rights, of pride in who you are, in our uniqueness as people with disabilities who enrich society with all the good we have built.”

Fitoussi, 43, is a resident of Bat Yam who chose to dedicate her life to fighting for the rights of people with disabilities. She works as an art therapist with children and has pushed for greater inclusion of teachers with disabilities in the education system and to implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Israel.

The Geneva-based CRPD is responsible for monitoring and examining the activities of signatory states to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its implementation to improve the lives of people with disabilities around the world.

The UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been ratified by 182 countries. Israel was one of the leading nations that took part in drafting the convention, joining it in 2012.

Since then, Israel has been active in many legislative and social initiatives for people with disabilities. It is responsible for implementing and overseeing the “Commission for Equality of Persons with Disabilities.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Fitoussi to congratulate her for this important achievement and said that he appreciates her ability and talents, which led to her election to a significant and important position in the international arena. He wished her success and said that all of Israel is proud of her.