Prof. Barbash takes over as Israel’s coronavirus commissioner

Born in Tel Aviv 70 years ago, Prof. Gabriel Barbash has been appointed coronavirus commissioner. He assumes the new post  at a time that Israel’s infection rate stays high, the public is confused, and political wrangling muddies the government’s handling of restrictions for holding it at bay. A former CEO of the Tel Aviv Ichilov Medical Center and hospital, who also served as director general of the health ministry, Prof. Barbash has acted as a lucid and credible TV commentator since the outbreak of the virus in February.