Mayor sues a quarter of a million from the patient I vacationer: 'I promise I wasn't in the pool''

August 2, 2020   

Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak Halevi is suing a quarter of a million shekels from a confirmed patient who violated isolation and came to vacation at the Club Hotel in Eilat. In the end, you'll regret being a sucker: Maybe you deserve a lot of money from National Insurance. Eilat Regional Police officers who located the patient on Thursday at the Club Hotel, removed him and his family from the city and fined him 5,000 shekels. If the citizen does not pay the compensation claimed for the damages he caused by his behavior to restore the safety of the city's residents and vacationers, a civil lawsuit will be filed against him. In a personally delivered letter sent today (Sunday) to a citizen, Attorney Dr. Ofir Miller wrote on behalf of the Mayor of Eilat and the Eilat Municipal Tourism Corporation Ltd.: "The fact that you chose to leave your home, stay in a hotel, and be in the public space in the city of Eilat is a blatant violation of the obligation and conditions of isolation, with a real risk of infecting and spreading the coronavirus disease and endangering the entire public." The letter further noted that the Eilat Municipality and its head are investing a lot of effort and money in order to preserve, encourage, and develop the tourism sector in the city of Eilat, especially in these days when there is a major economic damage to the tourism industry and the city's residents due to the spread of the coronavirus in Israel. The lawsuit further states: "The residents of the city of Eilat and our clients do not intend to pass on your conduct as stated and intend to bring you to justice in all its severity! Our clients are currently estimating their damages in light of your conduct, and in particular the damages you caused to the safety of the many tourists visiting the city, at NIS 250,000. "You are required to notify us within 7 days of the date of this letter whether you intend to pay compensation for the damage caused to our clients. If you choose not to do so, our clients have instructed us to file a lawsuit against you in the appropriate courts." The patient appeared on Channel 12's "Savings Program" this evening, and explained that he did not know that he had violated the mandatory isolation conditions. "I left the hotel with my family towards the beach, we took masks because we did not want to get infected again," he said. "Suddenly they called me and told me that they were looking for me all over Eilat. They took me out of the hotel, a lot of people from the hotel looked at me and took pictures of me." At this point, it seems, the confirmed patient already understood the magnitude of the storm he had created: "My wife and I cried about the situation, what happened? I didn't know I had to stay in isolation for 10 days. I was at home for 3 days and now I'm 'clean' – they took my temperature when I entered and left the hotel and I didn't have a fever. Only now have they told me that I have between 3 and 4 days left in isolation." He added and emphasized that he did not use the various hotel facilities – such as the pool and public restrooms.