Four weeks ago, Israel was celebrating a return to normal life in its battle with Covid-19.

After a rapid vaccination drive that drove down coronavirus infections and deaths, Israelis stopped wearing face masks and abandoned all social-distancing rules.

Then came the more infectious Delta variant, and a surge in cases that has forced Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (above) to reimpose some Covid-19 restrictions and rethink strategy.

Under what he calls a policy of "soft suppression", the government wants Israelis to...