Issue 82 of the periodical "Israeli Affairs" features an extensive dossier on the "Corona" crisis in Israel, exploring its management and revealing weaknesses in the healthcare system attributed to Netanyahu's policies. Netanyahu's approach, focusing on weakening the public sector and cutting health budgets over the years, left the healthcare system ill-prepared to handle the crisis.
The dossier extensively addresses the blatant discrimination against Palestinians within Israel during the crisis. It highlights the condescending treatment of Palestinians, neglect of their health, and disregard for their political, social, and economic needs. The crisis is exploited to achieve political, suppressive, and deterrent goals against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The Israeli government avoids full responsibility for providing vaccines to those under its control.
The issue includes a sub-dossier reigniting the debate on anti-Semitism, particularly concerning the "International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition" in connection with the issuance of the "Jerusalem Declaration on Anti-Semitism." The latter proposes an alternative to IHRA's provisions that align with right-wing Israeli interests and stigmatize dissenters, impacting freedom of expression.
In an article titled "COVID-19 in Israel," Dani Filc discusses the pandemic's impact, emphasizing the intersection of biological aspects, social structures, and power relations. The crisis exposes weaknesses in the Israeli system, revealing deep fractures caused by years of neoliberal policies. Policies towards the Palestinian community during the pandemic are scrutinized by Nihaya Dawood, highlighting global consequences and the specific treatment of Palestinians in Israel.
Emad Graysi analyzes data from the Adva Center in a study titled "Social Reality Picture: Corona and Inequality Pandemic in Israel." The study delves into the exacerbation of inequality caused by COVID-19 in Israel, with a disproportionate impact on lower and middle-income classes. Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel suffer the most due to systematic discriminatory policies, leading to economic and social weakening.
Bassil Rizkallah, in an article titled "The War Continues: Siege of Colonization and 'Corona' in Gaza," discusses how the colonization system incorporated COVID-19 into its blockade, intensifying restrictions and dominating Palestinian life. This strategic use of the pandemic serves to pressurize Palestinians politically while maintaining population control.
Economic researcher Hossam Gris examines the economic repercussions of COVID-19, stating that the crisis resulted in Israel's deepest economic recession. The data reveals a significant decrease in per capita Gross National Income by 5.5% in 2020, accompanied by an approximate 14% unemployment rate at the end of the year. Despite the economic downturn, favorable macroeconomic conditions allowed expansive fiscal and monetary policies.
The issue also features an analysis by Walid Habbas on Israel's policies in dealing with the cross-border COVID-19 virus. Habbas dismantles the apartheid system, arguing that, in managing populations, apartheid did not prevent the virus from spreading between Palestinians and Israelis. This offers an opportunity to reconsider prevailing understandings of apartheid in the West Bank.
Additionally, Maryam Farah explores the populist practices of Netanyahu during the COVID-19 pandemic, comparing the impact of unprofessional policies in populist-led countries. In Israel, the crisis intersects with a deep political crisis centered around Netanyahu, who utilized COVID-19 restrictions to postpone court proceedings and continue his incitement against state institutions.
The issue concludes with an examination of anti-Semitism and the "Jerusalem Declaration," dissecting efforts to extract it from its distorted commercial value. It also includes translations of selected Hebrew literature and revisits historical documents shaping the relationship between religion, state, and religious-secular relations in Israel from 1948 to the present. The latest Israeli publications are discussed, providing a comprehensive overview of current Israeli affairs.
