Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Monday that students in grades 8 and up in "red" cities with high coronavirus rates where less than 70% are either vaccinated, recovered or pass a positive serological test for antibodies will learn remotely.
This decision was made despite repeated claims that the school year will begin normally across the country and protest from Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton over allowing inoculations in schools.
Younger grades will operate under the Magen Hinuch or "Education Shield" outline, which requires unvaccinated students to be tested every week in schools in "red" and "orange" cities.
The government also approved the expansion of the mass-serological testing campaign, now underway for preschoolers and elementary school students in the ultra-Orthodox, to the rest of the country’s schools starting Sunday.
During the meeting, Bennett reportedly lashed out at Shasha-Biton over her and her ministry's continued refusal to allow children to get vaccinated during school hours, despite him and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz insisting for the measure to be approved - arguing it is the same as all other mandatory shots given to kids.
The premier reportedly raised his voice and pounded his desk during the ZOOM call, exclaiming to the education minister "you are not the UN," a Hebrew expression that means one should not be neutral on a subject discussed. "Serological tests are nice, but they are not what is going to save us. What will save us is only vaccinations, and I demand that you start pulling your weight."
"It is unthinkable that you do not understand that it is your responsibility just as much as the Health Ministry's," Bennett added.
Horowitz reportedly joined Bennett in criticizing Shasha-Biton, saying that "creative solutions are all well and good, but only vaccinations will ensure the school year opens."
In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office said "not every exchange that happens in discussions is a confrontation. The prime minister and the education minister are working in cooperation to open the school year safely, while protecting the health of Israel's children."