Israel vaccinates in burst and reopens cultural and performing arts venues. However.

While Israel, as of Feb. 21, has administered more than 7 million doses of the anti-Covid vaccine covering 85 percent of the country’s population, cultural life is resuming: in fact, almost all restrictions on culture have been removed and Operation Green Passport (“Green Passport”), the certificate attesting to the vaccination of individual residents and which will be required as a condition for entering certain premises, was launched yesterday.

“The first reason to vaccinate,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Feb. 16, “is the danger of not being vaccinated, which is much more serious than the minor discomfort caused by the sting for vaccination. The second reason to vaccinate is that we are opening the Green Passport program: everyone who has been vaccinated will be able to go to the theater, movies, sporting events, restaurants, will be able to travel abroad, and much more. The third reason is even more important: you are not only saving yourselves, but if you don’t vaccinate you may get sick and you yourself will pose a challenge to our hospitals, and as a result we may be forced to impose a new lockdown.”

Netanyahu celebrates four million vaccinated Israelis. Ph. Kobi Gideon

How passports work for vaccinated people in Israel

Israel lifted the nationwide lockdown last Feb. 8, and since last week the government has allowed the reopening of cinemas, theaters, concert halls but also gyms, hotels, and synagogues, granting access to those with green passports: the certificate is granted to those who have received the second dose of the vaccine, and is issued starting from the first week after administration. In addition, the passport is also given to the approximately 740,000 people who became ill and then recovered (thus developing immunity) and therefore do not need to be vaccinated. Israelis can obtain their Green Passport with an app, through the website of Israel’s Ministry of Health, or by calling a special phone number: one needs to send in one’s details and receives in reply a confirmation code that will be used to download the certificate, which has a QR Code that acts as a digital signature. On the premises where it is required, you will only need to take out a printed copy of your passport or show it on your phone, along with your ID card, in order to enter. The passport is valid for six months.

What activities require a passport? In some houses of worship (which can autonomously choose whether to operate under Green Passport or not: in the latter case, they are forced to accommodate a much smaller number of worshippers), in gyms, swimming pools, sports facilities (stadiums and sports arenas), cinemas and theaters, at concerts, and at exhibitions held outside museums (in fact, passports are not required for museums).

However, several anti-Covid rules remain in place. Restaurants, for example, have not yet reopened. Theaters, cinemas, and places of culture in general are obliged to respect the maximum capacity of 75% (and in any case there cannot be more than 300 people inside and 500 outside the premises), and there are then compulsory ticket reservations, marked seats (leaving one empty seat for every two people), for museums guided tours for groups of up to ten people with advance reservations.

All good? Not quite...

All perfect then? Unfortunately, no: restarting, in fact, is not easy, and giving an idea of what it means to reopen cultural and performing arts venues in Israel was the CEO of Lev Cinemas (a major Israeli cinema chain active since the 1980s), Guy Shani, speaking today in the Jerusalem Post, who says, “Basically, we have been closed for a year, without any specific help for our industry. Other organizations such as cultural institutes and hotels received support, we did not.” To avoid permanent closure many halls have had to spend (e.g., on room rentals, maintenance, taxes) without receiving adequate refreshments, plus many have had to lay off or put on leave most of their staff. Some of them will probably not return to work because they may have found something else in the meantime. So new hires will have to be made, spending time training the new hires.

And then there is also the Green Passport chapter: indeed, it is not clear, reports the Jerusalem newspaper, what lines employers will have to apply. Meanwhile, because many employees are young and in excellent health, as a result they will be among the last to be vaccinated, and it is not known whether they will already be able to return to work. Also, it is not known whether it is legal for an employer to require one of its employees to be vaccinated in order to work. But the problems do not end there: the restrictions still in place allow the reopenings of cinemas, but not the sale of food and drink inside them, an activity that allows cinemas to earn good profits (which for certain chains are up to 40 percent). In short, they reopen, but still in uncertainty. The conclusion? An unnamed executive pulls it: “it’s a mess.”

Jerusalem Theatre’s Henry Crown Hall

Israel vaccinates in burst and reopens cultural and performing arts venues. However.

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