Bennett Says Genetic Testing Coming to Ben Gurion Airport

Israel is seeking to develop a new, high-tech method for plugging the coronavirus gap at Ben Gurion Airport.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told cabinet ministers at the weekly meeting on Sunday that a system for genetic screening is in the works, to be deployed at the airport, which has been identified as the main portal for entry of the Delta variant currently circulating in Israel.

“We are working on a scanning system for everyone who comes into Israel,” Bennett said, according to a report leaked to the Israeli media. “Israel will thus become the radar for the virus.”

No details about the system or how it would work were contained in the reports.

At the meeting, Bennett, echoing a similar comment from U.S. President Joe Biden, said: “We have run out of patience for people who are not vaccinated.”

“The coronavirus has become a matter for those who are not vaccinated,” Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said. “Refraining from vaccination simply causes death.”

Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai demanded that all civil servants, which would include school teachers, be required to get vaccinated. Currently, teachers who are not vaccinated can continue to work if they take virus tests every few days, which they are must pay for themselves.