Editorials Commentary

aren’t, the government is clearly hoping that the benefits of the Green Pass will act as an inducement.

As with other aspects of Israel’s COVID actions, other Western countries are looking at the Green Passport as something of a test case. But few will be able to duplicate its potential success. Unlike many other countries, Israel has enough vaccine for all of its people. Its relatively small population can be reached easily and in relatively short order. And its centralized health system enables the collection of compliance data on virtually all citizens.

Still, we wonder how confident Israelis will become as more people are able to flash the Green Passport. Masks and social distancing are still the rule. And the app has been criticized as being easy to forge. This has led to warnings from the government of “uncompromising punishment” for counterfeits. In addition, the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza are being inoculated at a much lower rate than Israelis. This has led to international criticism that Israel is not vaccinating everyone under its control. It also raises questions about how an inoculated population in a land without defined borders can live side by side with a population of roughly the same size that has not been similarly vaccinated.

We join the rest of the world in watching the roll-out of Israel’s Green Passport program, and applaud the effort to encourage all citizens to participate in the comprehensive vaccination effort. JN