"Yesterday was an unusual day," Netanyahu shared with his counterparts, referring to biopharmaceutical giant Pfizer's announcement that its vaccine candidate was found to be at least 90% effective."If I compare the global struggle with coronavirus to the global struggle that took place during World War II - yesterday was like the Normandy landings. We know that it will take time and many more efforts, but we also know that we're heading towards victory." As Israel is attempting to acquire as many doses of promising vaccines from various entities and is struggling to define a policy once one is ready - with reports indicating that it may be mandatory for people to be vaccinated in Israel once a vaccine is available - Netanyahu expressed optimism. "I'm curious about the different vaccines being developed. We're in contact with various companies and countries ... There's no doubt that there's light at the end of this tunnel," Netanyahu noted.Netanyahu continued to address what he called the "accordion policy," in dealing with the virus and explained a process of slowly opening up the country's economy, but doing gradually and carefully."We've opened up quite a bit, but we haven't reopened restaurants, bars and gyms. We don't allow mass weddings or similar events. But we've allowed significant parts of our economy to reopen, including trade with certain limitations, and we try to avoid close spaces as much as possible."Netanyahu also expressed interest in hearing about the model of night curfews, which several countries in Europe have recently adopted as their latest strategy for limiting the spread of the virus.Finally, Netanyahu mentioned the recent attack that occurred in Vienna and expressed solitary and support to Chancellor Kurz."We can relate with you. You can understand how sincere I am when I say this - how the horror that you and France have experienced is relatable to us. I would like to reiterate our commitment to the joint struggle against this kind of cruelty," Netanyahu said.Following Netanyahu's remarks, Igal Unna, director-general of Israel National Cyber Directorate, shared with the other world leaders a new platform developed in Israel for connecting between countries and allowing them to easily share information and initiatives that relate to fighting coronavirus. The system was developed by Israel Aerospace Industry-Elta (IAI-Elta), the National Cyber Directorate and the Health Ministry, and is based on an existing system that the Israeli cybersecurity industry has been using for years.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participated in a video conference with leaders hosted by Austrian Chancellor @SebastianKurz, following the previous conferences, to discuss international cooperation in dealing with the second wave of the coronavirus.https://t.co/TKJu76VWHb pic.twitter.com/LC23LcgVs4
— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 10, 2020
Netanyahu discusses COVID-19 vaccines and developments with world leaders
The conference was hosted by Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz, with the participation of prime ministers of Australia, Norway, Denmark, Greece and Czech Republic.
