"Good evening citizens of Israel. The high waves of the coronavirus are continuing to inundate the world. This is happening with greater strength in the second wave of this pandemic than in the first. Morbidity is breaking records in many western countries, and again – wonder of wonders – the State of Israel is seen as a success story. But there is no wonder here; neither is it a miracle. There was a determined decision here that we made to impose a lockdown and there has been great success here in reducing the rate of morbidity. This was not an easy decision for us. Just a few weeks ago there were those among us who spoke in an inflated tone that Israel had lost direction, while there was almost a paradise in Europe. Indeed, the data speak for themselves.

The second wave is hitting Europe – France, Britain, Italy, Spain. Unfortunately, they are witnessing tens of thousands of new cases of coronavirus daily, with tragic results. In the Czech Republic, a great friend of Israel, whose population is similar enough to ours in size, there are over 15,000 new cases a day. In these countries and in many others there is concern about losing control of the pandemic. They are imposing lockdowns and other restrictions on the public.

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Now, I tell you again, a lockdown is not an easy thing. A lockdown is a very harsh thing and we all know this. It changes how we live. It hurts many areas. However, when there is no other choice – action must be taken. We acted and if we had not, we would now be in a completely different place with morbidity spreading at a geometric rate and with an incredible number of dead. We have saved many lives. Leadership means making the right decisions even if they are harsh and unpopular. We made a tough decision but the right and correct one.

At the peak of the second wave, about 1.5 months ago, we had 9,000 new cases a day. Today we had around 700 new cases. We then had 13% infection; today it is approximately 2%. This is one of the lowest morbidity rates in the west, perhaps in the world. But in contrast to what you constantly hear in the media, many experts in the world appreciate our policy. I will give you one example.

The first doctor in Europe who warned about the coronavirus, Prof. Maurizio Cecconi, said this week that Israel had proven that courageous action to block the virus can achieve quick results and a return to the economy. This does not mean that the coronavirus is behind us; it certainly is not. Our situation has improved but it is very fragile and we must not become complacent. The coronavirus is here; until we bring a vaccine, the coronavirus is here. And maybe even as we receive the vaccine – the coronavirus is here. Therefore, we need to act with caution and follow the directives.

From here, I will discuss the careful and responsible opening of stores on the street and accepting the outline that we have discussed at length. We made a decision about the careful opening of the education system. This is an opening that we evaluated over these two weeks and it could be that we will come up with a better outline, it depends on resources, logistics and also budgets, but the budget will not be an obstacle here.

I am attentive to the distress and I know that alongside the great morbidity in Europe, we are making every effort to carefully open businesses. Let it be clear to everyone, if morbidity goes up in this or that city, I will not hesitate to recommend that the Cabinet close that city, cordon it off. It is not important where it is located or in what sector – secular, ultra-orthodox, Jewish or Arab. We are compelled to know when to cordon off the disease, in every sense. There is also the possibility that we will impose restrictions on an orange city to prevent it from turning red.

Alongside these decisions, I will continue the efforts to procure vaccines. In the end – this the key to exiting from this disease because only a vaccine can take us out of the coronavirus routine, if at all, and therefore I am working on this without respite. We are working on three axes. The first axis is the independent production at our Institute for Biological Research and there is progress. There are good signs. However, we are also checking other possibilities. The second axis is our Health Ministry's contacts with the world's leading companies in order to organize supplies for Israel. The third axis is my contacts with heads of state in order to ensure a sufficient supply of vaccines. I have spoken with Mike Pence, who is leading this in the US, with Chancellor Merkel in Germany, with President Putin from Russia, with Narendra Modi in India, and the day before yesterday I spoke with Italian Prime Minister Conte, who assured me that he would also advance the supply to Israel of drugs produced in Italy. I have just come from a meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Di Maio who brought this message in addition to what Prime Minister Conte said. I hope that by these measures, we will have enough vaccines for the citizens of Israel, for all citizens of Israel, and in time.

I would like to say that we will also continue to help economically. On Monday, the Finance Minister will submit for Knesset approval the additional grant for 400,000 unemployed. I very much hope that the Knesset will approve this. But our entire ability to exit from this disease with an agreed-upon outline depends, in the end, on your cooperation, citizens of Israel, in wearing masks. Prof. Dan Aderka spoke to the Cabinet this morning. He told us one simple thing: If 80% of the public would wear masks, there would be no coronavirus. If in a certain community, over 80% of the public would wear masks, would really wear masks, meaning over the nose and mouth, there would be no coronavirus. The disease would be completely repressed. But if fewer people wear masks, then it rises. There is a link between the restrictions that we impose and the spread of the disease. If the disease increases, we impose more restrictions. If the disease decreases, we lift the restrictions. However, there is one thing that cannot be lifted and that is the masks. We reached the point in which we can maintain a routine in the shadow of the coronavirus until the arrival of the vaccines, but all of this is conditional on our continuing to follow the directives and mainly to continue acting together and with mutual guarantee. This is the only way; there is no alternative to defeating the coronavirus and together, with G-d's help, we will defeat the virus."