Get email notification for articles from Haaretz Follow Aug. 5, 2021 8:58 AM Israel was celebrated as a global leader in vaccinations and deemed "the first country in the world to get over COVID." But in recent weeks, the delta variant has taken the country by storm, and its spread is forcing Israel's new government to bring back old restrictions, and perhaps even consider the possibility of a fourth lockdown. Experts explain: If most Israelis are vaccinated, why is COVID surging? What can other countries learn from Israel's handling of this new COVID outbreak? Haaretz held a special Zoom briefing on Wednesday, August 4 with writers Amir Tibon and Allison Kaplan Sommer and Prof. Ran Balicer, the chair of Israel's national expert panel on COVID-19.