JERUSALEM (JTA) — It turns out that taking the traditional photograph of the incoming Cabinet while following coronavirus social distancing regulations is very complicated.
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So much so that the director-general of Beit HaNasi, the official residence of the president of Israel, had to consult with the director-general of the Health Ministry.
The traditional photo, to be taken Monday, generally has the new Cabinet sitting and standing around the president and the prime minister in close quarters.
The new government, Israel’s largest ever, includes 36 Cabinet ministers and 16 deputy ministers who were sworn in on Sunday.
“This is an important ceremonial event that comes after the formation of every Israeli government and we hope to hold it in exactly the same way,” Harel Tubi of the president’s residence wrote in a message to the Health Ministry’s outgoing director-general, Moshe Bar-Siman-Tov.
“The event includes 36 ministers, the president and two prime ministers in rotation, all together for the photograph in the hall of Beit HaNasi, with a large number of media.”
Tubi requested the Health Ministry’s guidance regarding the timing and the format of taking the photograph due to the coronavirus pandemic.