Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's wife and children will take off on holiday abroad, although he called on Israelis to refrain from flying due to fears of the Omicron variant. The family planned to fly to Mauritius and canceled after becoming a red state.

"Gilat Bennett and the prime minister's children will take off for a vacation of several days abroad. The vacation was planned ahead of time, but was canceled in light of the decision to define the destination country as a red state. After the decision of the Corona Cabinet to leave the skies open to the movement of Israelis, the vacation destination was changed, in accordance with the updated guidelines," the prime minister said. "The Bennett family will of course follow all the guidelines and rules applicable to Israeli citizens."

At a press conference on Friday, Bennett recommended not to fly abroad at this point. Later that day, the government decided that African countries, with the exception of the northern continent, would be defined as red and foreign entry from them would be banned, after three cases of the variant were discovered in Israel.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid was also on holiday abroad this weekend, but left the country before Bennett gave the directive.