Finance Minister challenges lockdown, takes issue with PM

Objecting to the extension of coronavirus restrictions approved by the government on Wednesday, Finance Minister Yisrael Katz declared: ”I won’t let millions of people sink into despair and shameful starvation because of the Health Ministry’s wrong  decisions to close the economy without differentiation or any health justification,” Katz, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, was also quoted as saying. “It makes no sense to allow gatherings of 10 people while disallowing businesses with up to 10 employees.”

Netanyahu was quoted as remarking that he would not be cowed over the necessary lockdowns by vote-seeking opponents – either within or outside the government.