Binyamin Netanyahu boasted too soon of defeating the coronavirus

Binyamin Netanyahu boasted too soon of defeating the coronavirus

With its case count rising, Israel is locking down again

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GO OUT, GET a coffee, have a beer, said Binyamin Netanyahu. "First of all, have fun.“ That was two months ago, after nearly eight weeks of lockdown, when Israel's prime minister thought he had all but beaten covid-19. Mr Netanyahu led the fight, refusing to delegate authority and holding daily briefings full of alarmism and braggadocio. "So far we've done it better than nearly any other country in the world and I assess that by the end of this we will be the best in the world,“ he said in March. "Other countries are adopting the steps we took.“

They may want to stop. Although Israel pushed new cases of covid-19 down to a handful a day in late May and early June, they are now close to 2,000, higher than the previous peak (see chart). The disease is spreading faster in Israel than in most other developed countries (though not America). So the government is locking down again. On July 17th it shut schools