Israelis celebrate return to the gym and live events as country rolls out vaccine passports

The green pass was introduced last Sunday

Credit: AFP

Israel has also reopened libraries, museums and shopping centres to the public as a whole, while essential shops such as supermarkets and pharmacies remained open throughout the pandemic. 

To date, Israel has given the first of two doses to 70 per cent of the population aged over 16, while the vast majority of the elderly have been fully vaccinated. 

Recent studies say that the Pfizer vaccine, the most prevalent jab in Israel, can offer a protection rate of 85 per cent after just one dose. 

Mr Jamal says he is delighted to be returning to the gym to pump some iron after many months of exercising outside — which was not much fun during the wintry storms that battered Jerusalem last week. 

"This is my first day back, it’s great I can’t ask for anything better than this," adding that it "felt so bad" that wasn’t able to lift heavy weights during the lockdown as he feared his muscles would shrink. 

 Israel took a step towards normalcy today, re-opening a raft of businesses and services from pandemic lockdowns

Credit: AFP

Rena Sered, the fitness director at YMCA Jerusalem, said the gym’s users have been all smiles since the green pass was introduced. 

"We are so excited we were able to reopen, we weren’t sure if anyone would come, but in the morning… Everyone came back and people were so thankful to exercise again.  They were able to see people they hadn’t seen in a while and they were so happy to be back," she said. 

Allan and Ruth Bar-Sinai, a married retired couple, were also hard at work when the Telegraph visited the sports centre on Monday. "I’m just so happy to be getting back to somewhere close to normal and doing things we took for granted just a short year ago," said Allan, 69.