OXfam: ‘Israel’ vaccine export deal “shameful” as nearly 5m Palestinians wait

Oxfam has called Israel’s decision to send surplus vaccines to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Honduras, and Guatemala, while Palestinians are waiting as “shameful and shortsighted.”

“Israel’s deal to exchange surplus vaccines for UN votes and embassies, while the vast majority of almost 5 million Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are left to wait for the potentially life-saving vaccine is shameful and shortsighted,” Oxfam Acting Country Director in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Dina Jibril, said.

“Shipping excess vaccine stocks across the world while Palestinians living, in many cases, only a few hundred meters away from vaccinated Israelis is yet another example of the Israeli government’s refusal to fulfill its legal obligation as an occupying power, as well as the moral and public health imperatives to ensure all Palestinians have access to adequate, basic services including healthcare. Israel must direct its efforts to ensure an urgent, free vaccination campaign for all Palestinians.”

“Once again Israel’s treatment of Palestinians not only endangers Palestinians’ health and prioritizes politics over people, this short-term thinking harms Israel’s own long-term interests too. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said, none of us are safe from COVID-19 until we are all safe.”

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said he personally approved the vaccine shipments to the above mentioned countries “in return for things we already received,” without further elaborating.

Honduras announced that it received vaccines from ‘Israel’ and the Czech Republic said Tuesday that it got 5,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.

However, Netanyahu’s office suspended the transfer of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries amid legal scrutiny.

The decision comes after Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit sent a letter to National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat asking for clarifications about the program, Israeli media reported.

Also, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz called on Netanyahu to convene the Security Cabinet in order to discuss the prime minister’s decision to transfer vaccines from Israel’s stocks to foreign countries.

“Making such decisions without approval… raises concerns that it will harm Israel’s foreign relations and national security,” said Gantz.

“The supply of vaccines to these countries has never been discussed in the relevant forums. This is not the first time that significant security and policy decisions have been made behind the backs of the relevant authorities.”