Ministers have approved — after several delays that have been widely criticized — the next phase of the reopening of the economy after the third coronavirus lockdown.

Event halls will be allowed to open with 50% capacity and up to 300 guests.

Restaurants will be able to serve up to 100 customers indoors with up to 75% capacity, only for those with Green Passes indicating they have been immunized against COVID-19. Outdoors, customers can be served without a Green Pass.

Israelis will be allowed to travel to the country from seven destinations, with a requirement to isolate with electronic monitoring.

There will no longer be a requirement to measure the temperature of customers at the entrance to public places and businesses.

Israel’s Health Ministry has caved to pressure from restaurant owners, a report said.

According to News 13, the Health Ministry has rescinded the change it made with regards to the number of customers allowed in restaurants, cafes, hotel dining halls, and event halls, due to pressure from restaurant owners, and the limit will therefore be two meters between tables.

At first, restaurant owners insisted on just 1.5 meters between tables indoors, and the Health Ministry demanded two meters.

On Saturday morning, the restaurant owners discovered that in the drafts prepared for the Saturday night telephone vote, 2.5 meters were required between tables.

According to them, such a distance between tables will reduce maximum capacity to just 30% and it will no longer be economically worthwhile for them to reopen.

Header: Worker puts up a poster advertising for staff at a restaurant in Tel Aviv, on March 3, 2021 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Source: TOI and Arutz Sheva