The New IDF Coronavirus Task Force

On July 27, 2020, the IDF Home Front Command (HFC) was asked to build a new Coronavirus Task Force. "Two days ago we received the mission to establish a task force in the HFC to stop the chain of infection," said Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, the Commanding Officer of the Home Front Command. "The task force will be established in the next few days and will assist the Ministry of Health, all government ministries, and the local authorities in focusing efforts and shortening schedules with the goal of stopping the chain of infection."

According to Maj. Gen. Gordin, the mission of the new IDF Coronavirus Task Force is to establish an effective way to make the existing COVID-19 related processes better, to keep the infection rate as low as possible in the long run, and to create an effective process to shorten the COVID-19 related wait times, and to improve the testing systems, the epidemiological research, and quarantine methods.

"Since the [beginning of the] outbreak of coronavirus, the IDF has been executing a number of support missions to prevent the spread of the virus, taking responsibility, and working in full cooperation with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Health,” explained the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir. “The IDF will do all in its power to establish the Task Force to cut the spread of infection nationally, as fast as possible."

On July 29, 2020, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir and the national COVID-19 project manager, Prof. Ronni Gamzu, visited the headquarters of the HFC. The visit was part of an effort to introduce Prof. Gamzu to the existing mechanisms the HFC deploys to assist local authorities, the Ministry of Health, and all bodies taking part in the fight against COVID-19. 

At the HFC, they toured the “Agamim” control center—which summarizes the latest data of all those affected by COVID-19 for authorities—the Public Information Branch, the national control center of the recovery hotels, and the “Raz” center—which assists civilians who have been asked by the Israeli Security Agency to quarantine, and wish to object to the request.

Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin presented Prof. Gamzu with the specific missions the HFC had been leading in the last few months. They went on to discuss the tasks of the Coronavirus Task Force and how to implement them quickly and efficiently to minimize the spread of the virus. 

As part of the briefing, the “Dashboard” system that was designed for the HFC and adjusted for local authorities was presented. The system supports the decision-making process—on what would be the best ways to supplement the effort—with real-time data analysis. In addition, the HFC and Ministry of Health’s public outreach plan was presented: an analysis of the population’s behavior, the national emergency portal, and the new-media situation room. 

After the briefing, the national COVID-19 project manager, Prof. Ronni Gamzu said "The might and accuracy of the HFC will enable the task force to be a meaningful and effective source in our challenge to stop the national chain of infection".

The IDF will continue to support the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Defense in its fight against COVID-19.