Israel is dropping its two-year-old indoor mask law as of Saturday night.
The move, which still needs Knesset approval, came after a US judge overturned the mask prohibition on public transportation, which has applied to Israelis for all but ten days since April 2020.
One of the few corona virus prohibitions still in effect, Israel’s interior mask mandate, will be removed at the end of this week, according to a statement released by Prime Minister Naphtali Bennett’s office on Wednesday.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office stated that Bennett and Health Minister Nissan Horowitz had decided to eliminate the widely disregarded masking rule starting at 8 p.m. on Saturday, citing the decrease in morbidity.
According to the statement, masking will still be necessary “at places with high contagion potential,” like airports, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. Those going into quarantine must also keep wearing masks.
The Knesset Health Committee still has to provide its approval before the mandate may be terminated.