COVID-19

A conversation with Dr. Erez Garty from the Davidson Institute about misinformation around Covid-19 in Israel, vaccine hesitancy and what is needed to make a dent in the problem of science denialism and propagation of conspiracy theories.

A conversation with Alexander Sängerlaub about the digital transformation of the public sphere, its consequences for democracy and the role of education and media literacy in fostering democratic resilience in the digital age. 

The rate of COVID-19 vaccination in Israel is one of the highest in the world. However, vaccine rates are not evenly distributed among the different population groups. Arab citizens and the Ultra-Orthodox population, who have suffered the most from the pandemic, are vaccinated at lower rates than the general public. Moreover, social media disinformation campaigns that have characterized the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, in general, and the vaccine, in particular, has been one of the causes of vaccine hesitancy.

No country is safe from COVID-19 until all countries are safe from COVID-19. To state the obvious: To overcome a pandemic of this magnitude, vaccines must be made available quickly, cheaply, and fairly.

Viktor Orbán has been successfully playing a big power game in the last decade, punching far above his weight. But his image as a negative hero in the Western World has clearly backfired now, with Orbán using the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to complete his authoritarian regime. Orbán’s moves are not purely the domestic political problems of Hungary – an authoritarian state within the EU could be deadly dangerous for the entire project. Germany has a very important role to play in the current situation. 

The Corona crisis demonstrated in fast motion the dilemma into which market-state-thinking leads. This is where commons come into play, i.e. what people do and are able to do with each other in a self-determined, self-organised, needs-oriented manner and without any marketing interest.

In Israel, as in other parts of the world, the COVID-19 virus crisis is not only a health challenge.

The first confirmed Covid-19 patient in Israel was diagnosed three months ago on February 21st, 2020. Less than a month later, on March 14th, a countrywide lockdown was announced, which included a total shutdown of all restaurants and hotels as well as most other work places.