It happened almost every day last week, just after 8 p.m., the most coveted primetime slot. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on TV to deliver a special statement about the coronavirus. Inevitably, the various channels aired his messages live during their evening news broadcasts. Each time he appeared on TV, Netanyahu announced a series of new decisions. These began with him canceling all events with over 5,000 people in attendance. Then came his announcement that he was canceling school and shutting down the country’s colleges and universities. Netanyahu also pleaded with people to maintain high standards of personal hygiene, use tissues, avoid handshakes and postpone visits to elderly relatives. He warned of a dramatic rise in the number of people who were infected, and of course, he used the opportunity to make all sorts of political statements.

As conventional wisdom in Israel would have it, the prime minister was managing the current crisis in the best possible way and had succeeded in steering the ship that is Israel to safer shores. This was even the view of the media and publicists, who, under normal circumstances, would not spare Netanyahu their criticism. “You can mock and hate as much as you want. Benjamin Netanyahu is 100% on point with the coronavirus crisis,” tweeted Ravit Hecht, a publicist for Haaretz newspaper, on March 11. Hecht was joined by Barak Ravid, a political commentator for Channel 13, who is known for his uncompromising criticism of Netanyahu, and by Ynet anchor and commentator Attila Somfalvi. It looks like most Israelis identify with this sentiment. Accordingly, all polls published for the weekend show a rise in support for Netanyahu as the person best suited to serve as prime minister. He now has 47% support, while the Blue and White party’s Benny Gantz has just 36%.

Admittedly, there is some criticism that Netanyahu is using his daily TV appearances for political purposes, and that these could easily be replaced by a brief statement by a senior figure in the Ministry of Health, or even by a press release containing the latest public instructions. Nevertheless, there can be no argument that Israel was quick to wake up to the crisis and took dramatic but necessary steps in order to stop the spread of the disease. This includes closing the country’s borders to tourists from countries infected by the virus and the compulsory isolation of anyone returning from those countries.

And yet, at the same time, the number of people infected by the virus has ballooned over the past few days. As this was happening, about 1,000 doctors were placed in isolation after being exposed to the virus, while many patients who show symptoms of the coronavirus have complained that Magen David Adom [Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service] is refusing to conduct tests to see if they have been infected. So far, only four labs in Israel are even able to conduct the tests to identify the virus, so that only 700 tests are conducted each day. By way of comparison, South Korea does 10,000 tests per day. Though Israel began preparing for the coronavirus as early as two months ago, it turns out that hospitals are dealing with a shortage of masks, medical gowns and medical equipment. In fact, Israel has been forced to use diplomatic tools to “pressure” other countries to provide them with essential equipment. At the same time, there is a heated debate over whether people with light symptoms should be treated at home. Experts claim that this would only increase the rate of infection among the community at large.