TEL AVIV—Across the street from a bar packed with newly inoculated Israelis, a crowd gathered on a recent Tuesday to protest against government pressure to take the vaccine, and the perks it extends to the vaccinated.
Over the blare of techno music, many of the antivax protesters wore stickers that read “No to forced vaccination” and complained that only they can decide what to do with their bodies. Their chief grievance: the so-called green passport, issued by the government, which allows those who have had both shots of the vaccine to enter bars, gyms and restaurants.
“I’m healthy, my body knows how to overcome,” said Tamir Hefetz, 46, one of the organizers of the antivaccine demonstration. “The green passport is something terrible.”
In the late stages of its vaccination drive, Israel is trying to persuade holdouts to get vaccinated before new variants of the coronavirus raise infection levels again, causing further damage to the country’s economy.
But the hardened pockets of resistance the Israeli government faces point to the struggles that await many Western countries, including the U.S., once they have inoculated much of their populations.