Israel Shield (Hebrew: מגן ישראל) is Israel's national program to combat the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Spearheaded by the Ministry of Health, it is led by a "COVID czar," a position that, since June 2021, is held by

Salman Zarka Salman Zarka ( ar, سلمان الزرقا, he, סלמאן זרקא) is a Druze-Israeli physician and the Director of Ziv Medical Center in Safed, reservist of The Israel Defense Forces in the rank of Colonel, senior lecturer at the Faculty ...

. The institution of the program coincided with the absorption of the March 2020 into the July 2020 legislation (also known informally as the "Great Coronavirus Law").

The COVID czar

Subordinate to the

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

and to the ministry's director, the COVID czar still directly consults with the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. The COVID czar's recommendations generally receive wide publicity in the press. All three COVID czars had been doctors who had previously held prominent

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

roles. In June 2021, the current COVID czar, Salman Zarka, was appointed by the Minister of Health,

Nitzan Horowitz Nitzan Horowitz ( he, נִצָּן הוֹרוֹבִיץ; Transliterated: ; born 24 February 1965) is an politician and former journalist serving as Minister of Health since 2021. He is currently leader of Meretz. He previously was the chief U. ...

, replacing Nachman Ash, with the latter becoming the ministry's director. In November 2020, Ash, himself, had replaced the first COVID czar, Ronni Gamzu, who was originally appointed to the position in July of that year. The COVID czar is not a member of the , unlike the Minister of Health and ministry's director who are permanent members.The Coronavirus Cabinet on the website of Prime Minister's Office
(last updated June 2021).

References

External links

*https://govextra.gov.il/ministry-of-health/magen-israel/magen-israel/ (Hebrew) — summary of the program on the Ministry of Health's website {{Israel-gov-stub