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The coronavirus video conference hosted by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, April 24, 2020. Photo: Screenshot.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took part in a video conference with six other world leaders on Friday to discuss international cooperation in fighting the coronavirus.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz — the host of the conference — thanked Netanyahu for raising the alarm about the coronavirus early on.
“I remember in March we had some phone calls, and he [Netanyahu] said to me, ‘Well, you are not taking the situation serious enough in Europe and especially in Austria, and you should do more,” Kurz recalled. “And this was something like a wake-up call for me, and then we took some very difficult decisions, but I think they were good.”
Other participants in the conference included Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
According to a statement published by Netanyahu’s office, the Israeli prime minister “informed the leaders about the decisions and steps that have been taken in Israel in order to prevent the virus from spreading.”
“He said that cooperation between countries must be continued and must be tightened, and that there must be a continued exchange of knowledge and ideas in order to fight the spread of the virus,” it went on to say.
The statement continued, “The leaders expressed concern over a second wave of outbreak of the pandemic and over the fact that the virus is expected to be with us for some time.”
“The leaders sought to learn from Israel about digital tools, especially in regard to dealing with a second wave of outbreak,” it noted.
Watch an excerpt from the call below: