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Israel to Reimpose COVID ‘Green Pass’ as Delta Variant Hits

The audience wearing protective face masks watches on opening night at the Khan Theater during a performance where all guests were required to show proof of receiving a COVID-19 vaccination or full recovery from the virus, in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The audience wearing protective face masks watches on opening night at the Khan Theater during a performance where all guests were required to show proof of receiving a COVID-19 vaccination or full recovery from the virus, in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
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Israel to Reimpose COVID ‘Green Pass’ as Delta Variant Hits

The audience wearing protective face masks watches on opening night at the Khan Theater during a performance where all guests were required to show proof of receiving a COVID-19 vaccination or full recovery from the virus, in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The audience wearing protective face masks watches on opening night at the Khan Theater during a performance where all guests were required to show proof of receiving a COVID-19 vaccination or full recovery from the virus, in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Israel announced plans on Thursday to allow only people who are deemed immune to COVID-19 or have recently tested negative to enter some public spaces such as restaurants, gyms and synagogues after a surge in coronavirus cases.

The government had removed most coronavirus restrictions after a rapid vaccination drive that pushed down infections and deaths.

The easing of restrictions included dropping a “Green Pass” program that had allowed only people who had been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 to enter some public spaces.

But some measures have already been reinstated, including wearing protective masks indoors and tighter entry requirements for incoming travelers, because of the rapid spread of the more infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus, according to Reuters.

In a further tightening of measures, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office said the Green Pass program would be back in force from July 29, pending government approval.

“The (Green Pass) will apply to cultural and sporting events, gyms, restaurants and dining halls, conferences, tourist attractions and houses of worship,” Bennett’s office said in a statement after a meeting of his “coronavirus cabinet.”

Entrance to events with more than 100 attendees will be allowed only for “the vaccinated, recovered and those with a negative test result who are aged 12 and over.”

Under what Bennett calls a policy of “soft suppression,” his government wants Israelis to learn to live with the virus — involving the fewest possible restrictions and avoiding a fourth national lockdown that could do further harm to the economy.

Over 56 percent of Israel’s 9.3 million population is fully vaccinated, and serious cases have remained lower than during previous waves of infection.

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Millions of Children to Suffer from Trump Aid Cuts

Afghan children receive food aid from a local charity in Mazar-i-Sharif on March 2, 2025. Atif Aryan / AFP/File
Afghan children receive food aid from a local charity in Mazar-i-Sharif on March 2, 2025. Atif Aryan / AFP/File
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Millions of Children to Suffer from Trump Aid Cuts

Afghan children receive food aid from a local charity in Mazar-i-Sharif on March 2, 2025. Atif Aryan / AFP/File
Afghan children receive food aid from a local charity in Mazar-i-Sharif on March 2, 2025. Atif Aryan / AFP/File

When he grows up, five-year-old Ahmad wants to be "stronger than Spider-Man".
But his dream clashes with a harsh reality -- the Jordanian boy has a serious disability, and major US aid cuts mean he will likely miss out on vital care.
Like him, millions of children around the world are suffering from the sweeping cuts ordered by US President Donald Trump.
All are grappling with hardship in one form or other: war, crime, global warming, poverty, disease and more.
Ahmad, who has a spinal malformation, cannot hold his torso upright and is paralyzed from the waist down.
The boy was receiving physiotherapy sessions from Handicap International "to strengthen his upper limbs and enable him, later on, to walk with crutches," said his father, Mahmud Abdulrahman, a 30-year-old day laborer.
Abdulrahman said the non-governmental organization was also due to provide orthotics and prosthetics to straighten Ahmad's lower limbs -- none of which he could afford on his meagre salary.
Now, none of that will happen.
The Wehdat Rehabilitation Center they attended in Jordan's capital Amman was one of the first victims of Trump's aid cuts.
More than 600 patients found themselves deprived of care overnight.
Prosthetics already specially designed for around 30 children, as well as wheelchairs, could not be delivered to them, on Washington's orders.
"The movement that was taught will be forgotten," said Dr Abdullah Hmoud, a physiotherapist who worked at the center, describing the potential losses as "catastrophic".
There is also emotional suffering.
When he realized he would no longer see his physiotherapist, "Ahmad stopped eating for three days. He didn't want to get up," said his father.
With the closure of his rehabilitation center, "I feel like they want to kill me," the boy said in a hushed voice.
Global fallout
Ahmad's story is one among many in a wave of horror accounts surfacing from the humanitarian sector since the United States said it was cutting 83 percent of its aid.
USAID -- which the Trump administration has dismantled -- had supported 42 percent of all aid distributed globally, with a $42.8 billion budget.
At a refugee camp in Bangladesh, home to a million Rohingya Muslims who fled persecution in Myanmar, half of them children, Save the Children has been forced to ration food.
The NGO fears desperate families could be pushed to hand over daughters to traffickers or send sons on dangerous sea crossings to Malaysia for work.
In Mozambique, Solidarites International had to shut down a program providing food and water to internally displaced people, including tens of thousands of children.
In Malawi, similar numbers will no longer receive free school meals, according to another NGO which requested anonymity for fear of US reprisals.
Without food, many children will drop out of school -- all the more galling, the NGO said, as millions of meals are reportedly left to rot in warehouses due to the US decision.
"It's like the rug is being pulled out from under their feet," said one staff member.
'Last lifelines'
Women and girls are often the first to lose out, with their education traditionally sacrificed first.
The Norwegian Refugee Council said it will have to "significantly reduce" aid to women and girls in Afghanistan because the US funds paid for many of the female staff who worked with them.
"The very last lifelines for many women and girls will be taken away," said Camilla Waszink, a director at the organization.
Malnutrition already affects 150 million children under five, and the numbers could surge.
"Millions of additional children will suffer stunted growth" and impaired brain capacity, said Kevin Goldberg, director of Solidarites International.
In another blow to children, Washington is expected to drastically reduce funding for vaccination programs in poor countries.
Sania Nishtar, CEO of the Vaccine Alliance, warned the cuts -- if confirmed -- could result in "an estimated 1.3 million children dying from vaccine-preventable diseases".