Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Monday called on his Israeli counterpart in his phone call for Israel to facilitate the transfer of COVID-19 vaccines to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, Israeli officials told me.
Leading the news: On Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister’s office announced that Israel has decided to send a “symbolic amount” of vaccines to the Palestinian Authority and several countries that have asked for help.
- The prime minister’s office said Palestinians will receive several thousand doses of vaccine for medical equipment.
- A similar number of doses will be given to various countries such as Honduras, which sent a plane to collect the vaccines. The vaccines will be taken from a supply of 100,000 Modern doses that Israel bought but has not yet used.
Why is it important?: Israel has improved its assistance to Palestinians on COVID-19 in recent weeks after facing criticism from international media.
- Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said on Monday in a Zoom speech at the UN Human Rights Council based in Geneva that Israel has refused to give vaccines to Palestinians or even to allow shipments of vaccines from abroad to enter the West Bank and Gaza.
- Israel claims that this criticism is false and has a political motivation.
The general picture: The Biden administration seeks to improve the situation on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza and gradually build trust between Israelis and Palestinians. Biden administration officials believe the fight against COVID-19 could be a basis for positive cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians.
Driving the news: Blinken and Ashkenazi discussed Iran and other regional issues in their phone call, but the Secretary of State raised COVID-19 cooperation with the Palestinians as a specific element of the action.
- Israeli officials told me that Ashkenazi stressed to Blinken that Israel is the country that has vaccinated the largest number of Palestinians in the world to date, noting that 300,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem receive health services from Israel.
- Ashkenazi told Blinken that Israel has given several hundred doses of vaccine to the Palestinians since its national supply, allowed a shipment of Sputnik V vaccines from Russia to enter the West Bank and allowed part of that shipment to Gaza. Ashkenazi told Blinken that Israel is also studying vaccinating some 75,000 Palestinians working in Israel.
- State Department spokesman Ned Price declined to comment. In a briefing on Friday, Price said the United States believes “it is important for Palestinians to gain greater access to COVID vaccines in the coming weeks.”
What next?: Last Friday, a delegation of senior Israeli Ministry of Health officials visited Ramallah to talk to their Palestinian counterparts. One of the issues addressed was that Israel give the Palestinians 100,000 doses of vaccines from the national supply to vaccinate medical equipment and people over 60 years of age.