Israeli Finance Minister Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman speaks to the media during the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem August 1, 2021. (Reuters)
Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman speaks to the media during the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem August 1, 2021. (Reuters)
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Israeli Finance Minister Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman speaks to the media during the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem August 1, 2021. (Reuters)
Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman speaks to the media during the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem August 1, 2021. (Reuters)

Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Saturday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and would self-isolate but continue working from home.

"I feel good and will isolate in the next few days," Lieberman said on Twitter. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid tested positive on Monday.

Lieberman has faced some public criticism for not providing more government aid to businesses as the Omicron variant has pushed Israeli infection rates to new highs, keeping many employees in isolation and customers at home.

"I will continue to pursue responsible economic policies from home, keep track of the data and plan future steps," Lieberman, 63, tweeted in an apparent response to the criticism.

On Jan. 10, Lieberman posted a photo of himself receiving a fourth COVID-19 vaccination dose. Israel began administering a second round of boosters to immune-compromised people in late December, expanding the campaign to its over-60-year-olds and medical staff in January.

The Health Ministry says that a first booster increases protection seven days after the shot but has not yet released data on the effectiveness of a fourth dose.

Israel, population 9.4 million, has confirmed around 1.7 million coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and more than 8,000 deaths.



Iran Says Will Not Hesitate to Defend its Nuclear Program

HANDOUT - 10 February 2025, Iran, Tehran: Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech during a rally at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square. Photo: Mehdi Bolourian/Iranian Presidency/dpa
HANDOUT - 10 February 2025, Iran, Tehran: Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech during a rally at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square. Photo: Mehdi Bolourian/Iranian Presidency/dpa
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Iran Says Will Not Hesitate to Defend its Nuclear Program

HANDOUT - 10 February 2025, Iran, Tehran: Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech during a rally at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square. Photo: Mehdi Bolourian/Iranian Presidency/dpa
HANDOUT - 10 February 2025, Iran, Tehran: Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech during a rally at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square. Photo: Mehdi Bolourian/Iranian Presidency/dpa

Iran has defended its nuclear program and will not be hesitant to continue doing so, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, a day after Israel and the US vowed to counter Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"Iran's peaceful nuclear program is ongoing, and has been for the last three decades, based on Iran's rights as a member in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons... definitely we will not show any weakness in this regard," Reuters quoted him as saying.
Israel and the United States are determined to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions and its influence in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem.
Rubio said: "Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilizing activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people that call this region home, is Iran."