Israeli PM Bennett tests positive for COVID

Reuters file photo
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attends a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, March 27, 2022.

JERUSALEM, March 28 (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has tested positive for COVID-19 but feels well and will work while self-isolating at home, his office said on Monday.

The news came hours after Bennett, who has been vaccinated against the coronavirus and received a booster dose, visited the scene of a shooting in the Israeli city of Hadera, where two Arab gunmen killed two police officers before being shot dead.

“This morning, the prime minister will conduct an assessment … of last night’s attack,” Bennett’s office added in a statement.

Participants would include the ministers of defense and internal security, the military’s chief of staff and the national police chief, it added

Bennett met U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jerusalem on Sunday.

The prime minister, who turned 50 on Friday, has been a vocal proponent of vaccinations and masking, while avoiding lockdowns, as Israel battles the pandemic.