Israel's Green Pass mandate for shopping malls — which was set to go into effect on Friday — was delayed until further notice after the government failed to reach an agreement on the outline.
The cabinet meeting on Thursday was meant to give the measure its final government approval, however it ended without one. As a result, the agreement will not be signed off on by Knesset's Constitution Committee as required by law, meaning it will not be implemented this week.
According to a government source, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was determined to make the outline harsher, while several ministers were seeking to make it more lenient.
The Economy Ministry demanded that instead of the Green Pass, malls implement stricter limits on the number of people allowed in stores at one time.
Ministerial officials said this was in an effort to not discriminate between malls and open shopping outlets. "There are many arguments and objections behind the scenes, there are tough conversations with the shopping malls owners, which involve legal threats," some of the ministers involved in the issue said.
However, another source said that despite the disagreements, the government is not intending to scrap the measure.
The measure caused much public and political outcry following its announcement, forcing the Health Ministry on Wednesday to announce a revision to it.
While customers will still be required to present a Green Pass upon entering a mall, the planned revision will see each mall manage and enforce the measures independently, while the requirement to wear bracelets differentiating between vaccinated and unvaccinated will be scrapped.
The Green Pass grants access to public venues to those considered immunized against COVID-19.