Netanyahu Tells Davos Forum Israel is ‘World’s Laboratory’ for Vaccine
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the Davos World Economic Forum that Israel is “in an arms race between vaccination and mutation. All the virus mutations you see, you are two weeks too late when you spot them,” he told the online forum on Wednesday
He expressed hope that Israel can serve as a “world laboratory for herd immunity,” and as a “global test case” for using vaccinations to help open up the economy.
In answer to a question about Israeli superiority in the high-tech/cybersecurity sector, Netanyahu responded that teaching mathematics is “the most important investment you can make in cyber.” He said Israeli is moving its cybersecurity and intelligence units to the south of the country, in order to allow the development of a shared, creative atmosphere.
Merck CEO Stefan Oschmann praised Israel for its ability to use technology to solve its problems. Netanyahu responded that this was achieved through education and free markets. “We invest a huge amount of national resources on maintaining a giant intelligence service. We put our best minds in these disciplines and then they go off and start their own businesses,” he said.
Netanyahu said that the Abraham Accords represent “a new kind of peace that is changing the relationship between Arabs and Israelis and Arabs and Jews.” Tens of thousands of Israelis already have traveled to Dubai, and business relationships are flourishing, he added.
