Analysis

Israeli vaccination programme highlights complexities of the relationship with Palestinians

Israel says it will vaccinate all of its citizens before April, but many say it has a moral obligation to Palestinians as well.

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives his vaccination
Image: Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu receives his vaccination
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Much has been made of the Israeli success in rolling out its vaccine program. Just as much has been made of the fact that Palestinians do not have access to the Israeli-procured vaccine.

Is this an outrage? Can it be explained? Have the Israelis refused to provide the jab to the Palestinians? Have the Palestinians asked for help? Does Israel have legal and moral obligations to honour?

These are just a few of the questions raised. In seeking to provide some clarity here I will inevitably be criticised by one side or the other, or more likely both. And within the limits of this piece, I am unable to drill down deep into the nuances of the arguments on both sides. But here is, I hope, some context.

First, the simple facts: Israel is pledging to vaccinate its entire population over the age of 16 by the end of March. That includes every Israeli citizen whether they be Jewish, Muslim, Christian or of no faith - Arab Israelis are as eligible as Jewish Israelis (I bring up religion because it's ever present in the Israel/Palestine debate).

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Israel sets the pace on vaccination

But the Israeli vaccine programme does not extend to the West Bank and in Gaza.

The West Bank is partly administered by the Palestinian Authority (I say "partly" because it's split into three zones which are to varying degrees under the civil or military control of Israel). Gaza is administered by the Palestinian faction Hamas.

Most states globally, as well as the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations General Assembly, the International Court of Justice and the International Committee of the Red Cross consider Israel to be an 'occupying power'.

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Gaza is not literally occupied by Israel which withdrew, or disengaged, in 2005. However Israel maintains external control over access to the strip and indirect control over life inside. Human Rights organisations and other bodies (the United Nations, International Court of Justice, the International Committee of the Red Cross) argue that this constitutes an "occupation".

As an occupying power, according to the 4th Geneva Convention, Israel is responsible for providing healthcare to the population of the occupied area.

But, the Oslo Peace Accords of the 1990s between Israel and the Palestinians gave the Palestinians (the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza) responsibility for healthcare.

There are legal arguments here - do the Oslo Accords override the Geneva Convention? Oslo was only ever meant to be temporary - a roadmap to a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel. Yet it's become permanent. The Palestinian Authority operates under an apparatus it calls the State of Palestine but it is not formally a country.

In this long status quo, the stateless Palestinian people are at a distinct disadvantage, whether it be for the urgent procurement of mass vaccinations, or anything else.

Where does fault for this rest? This is the subject of a central and active debate: oppressive Israel versus corrupt and ineffective Palestinian politicians.

There is, without question, a power imbalance which means that Israel's occupation is more damaging to the Palestinians than anything else. But that fact doesn't preclude Palestinian corruption, ineptitude and stubbornness exacerbating the situation.

So what about Israel's moral position vis-à-vis the vaccine? The infection rate is soaring among Palestinians as it is among Israelis. Because Israel is vastly more capable of procuring and delivering the vaccine, shouldn't they help their neighbours? It's certainly in their interests given that some Palestinians (those with Israeli-issued work permits) travel in and out of the West Bank.

Well, the Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said to me this week: "I think that we've been helping our Palestinian neighbours from the very early stages of this crisis, including medical equipment, including medicine, including advice, including supplies.

"I don't think that there's anyone in this country, whatever his or her views might be, that can imagine that I would be taking a vaccine from the Israeli citizen, and it was all the goodwill, give it to our neighbours.

"If, God willing, we will get to the situation where they will be nearly no demand in this country, we will be able to share."

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein suggested Israel will only help Palestinians after all its citizens have had the jab
Image: Health Minister Yuli Edelstein suggested Israel will only help Palestinians after all its citizens have had the jab

There has been outrage from human rights organisations. Amnesty International said: "There could hardly be a better illustration of how Israeli lives are valued above Palestinian ones."

It's unquestionably the case that in so many areas in this long and oft-forgotten conflict, Israeli lives are valued above Palestinian ones.

I witness it first-hand. It is also the case that Israel could have provided their vaccine to the Palestinians but chose to prioritise its own citizens first.

Legally and morally, like the wider Israel-Palestine debate, it is vigorously argued both ways.

What do the Palestinians themselves think?

When I asked Dr Ali Abed Rabbo, director of preventative health at the Palestinian Ministry of Health if he believes Israel is obliged to provide the vaccine, he said: "As an occupying force, I think, and I believe that Israel had the commitment to procure the vaccine for the Palestinian population because they are the occupying force."

But when I asked him if he had asked the Israelis for help, he said no.

Dr Yasser Bozia, Palestinian Director-General for Public Health went further: "We haven't asked for any vaccine from Israel. It's our responsibility to procure and roll-out the COVID vaccine and all other vaccines. That's been the case going back years," he told Sky News.

He continued: "We are part of Covax ( the part of the WHO charged with rolling out vaccines to all countries) and all nations who've signed up have been informed they will receive their first vaccine in first quarter of 2021."

The Palestinian Authority is also negotiating with other companies providing the vaccine including Astra Zeneca, Sputnik and Moderna. Officials have said that vaccine delivery should begin by March.

The Palestinian Liberation Organisation's Negotiation Affairs Department finally released a statement on the issue on Monday: "The State of Palestine has an obligation to provide vaccines as best of its capabilities to its citizens; nonetheless, the State of Palestine remains under prolonged Israeli military occupation.

"Therefore the international community must hold Israel to account and urge Israel as an occupying power to fulfil its obligations under international law and make vaccines available to the protected population as a whole and without discrimination.

"This includes Palestinians in the whole territory of the State of Palestine, which comprise the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, including Palestinians in occupation prisons and Palestinian Refugees."

Israel's vaccination programme has been a real success story
Image: Israel's vaccination programme has been a real success story

A final thought: for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli vaccine success is a gift (to himself) - it diverts attention from his corruption trial and adds to his persona as a 'magician'; he is seeking re-election yet again - the fourth in a little under two years (Israeli politics is utterly dysfunctional).

It also provides the State of Israel the international recognition it craves and is often denied by those who question its legitimacy.

But all of this neatly reminds us too that a resolution to the Israel-Palestine story is so long overdue.