Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, November 21, 2021. Abir Sultan Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – Israeli ministers convened on Sunday in a cabinet meeting to discuss further travel restrictions, with countries including the United States and Canada on the docket for possibly joining Israel’s “Red List” of banned destinations.

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett addressed the meeting: “This government did a great thing when it made a quick decision, three weeks ago, to restrict entry into Israel and greatly delayed the entry of the variant into the country.”

“We bought the State of Israel precious time, we delayed the omicron for at least three weeks,” he added.

On Saturday, Israel recorded over 800 new virus cases for the second day in a row, according to the Health Ministry.

There are 6,772 active cases of the virus in Israel, and some epidemiologists say that the state is already in the midst of the fifth wave of the pandemic.

“Time is running out. … The omicron is already in the country,” Bennett said. “There are already infections within the community, and we are already seeing an increase in the coefficient of infection.”

Referring to omicron, he continued that due to the “highly contagious nature … one must understand the collective, national protection that the state gives is not enough.”

“Everyone, every citizen, must take care of himself, his family, and his children.”

Israel’s Health Ministry cites that almost 6.5 million people received the first dose of the Covid jab, while just over four million have three shots of the vaccine.

“The wave is coming. Every family needs to be prepared. Every person should make sure that they are vaccinated with three vaccines and that their children are vaccinated,” Bennett said.

An Israeli parliamentary committee approved Sunday that Ireland, Norway, the United Arab Emirates, France, and Sweden will be added to the Red List.