Naftali Bennett

# Naftali Bennett

## Abstract

Naftali Bennett (Hebrew: נַפְתָּלִי בֶּנֶט, romanized: Naftālī Beneṭ, IPA:; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the 3rd Alternate Prime Minister of Israel from 1 July to 8 November 2022. Bennett was the leader of the New Right party from 2018 to 2022, having previously led The Jewish Home party between 2012 and 2018.

The son of immigrants from the United States, Bennett was born and raised in Haifa. Bennett served in the Sayeret Matkal and Maglan special forces units of the Israel Defense Forces, commanding many combat operations, and subsequently became a software entrepreneur. In 1999, he co-founded and co-owned the US company Cyota. The company was sold in 2005 for $145 million. He also was CEO of Soluto, an Israeli cloud computing service, sold in 2013 for a reported $100–130 million.

Bennett entered politics in 2006, as Chief of Staff for Benjamin Netanyahu until 2008. From 2010 to 2012, he was the director of the Yesha Council. In 2011, together with Ayelet Shaked, he co-founded the My Israel extra-parliamentary movement. In 2012, Bennett was elected as the party leader of The Jewish Home. In the 2013 Knesset election, the first contested by The Jewish Home under Bennett's leadership, the party won 12 seats in the Knesset. He served under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Minister of Economy and Religious Services from 2013 to 2015, before being appointed Minister of Education in 2015. In December 2018, Bennett left The Jewish Home to form the New Right party. After he lost his Knesset seat in the April 2019 Knesset election, he was dismissed by Netanyahu as Education Minister in June 2019. He regained his seat in the September 2019 Knesset election, representing the New Right (now a member of the Yamina alliance), and was appointed Minister of Defense, before leaving the position the following year.

In the 2021 Knesset election, Yamina under Bennett's leadership won 7 seats. On 2 June 2021, Bennett agreed to a rotation government with Yair Lapid, whereby Bennett would serve as Israel's prime minister until 2023, after which Lapid would assume the role until 2025. Bennett was sworn in on 13 June 2021. On 20 June 2022, following failures of the coalition to pass bills in the Knesset, Bennett announced he would call for a vote to dissolve the Knesset and step down as prime minister after the dissolution, to be succeeded by Lapid. On 29 June, he announced that he would not seek re-election to the chamber in the next election that have been scheduled for later in the year. Lapid succeeded him as prime minister on 1 July 2022, while Bennett succeeded Lapid as the Alternate Prime Minister. He announced his resignation as alternative prime minister on 6 November, which became effective on 8 November.

## Early life

Bennett was born in Haifa, Israel, on 25 March 1972. He is the youngest of three sons born to Jim and Myrna (née Lefko) Bennett, American-Jewish immigrants who moved to Israel from San Francisco in July 1967. Both his parents were from Ashkenazi Jewish backgrounds. His father's ancestors were from Poland, Germany, and the Netherlands. Bennett's paternal great-great-great-grandfather Julius Salomonson was from Łobżenica, Poland, and arrived in San Francisco in 1851 during the California Gold Rush. His mother's ancestors lived in Russia and Poland, and her parents immigrated to the United States prior to World War II. They later moved to Israel, joining their daughter's family there, and settled on Vitkin Street in Haifa, close to where Bennett and his brothers grew up. Some of his mother's family members who remained in Poland were murdered in the Holocaust.

Bennett's parents were raised in non-Orthodox Jewish homes and were progressive activists during the 1960s. His father was arrested while taking part in an anti-racism sit-in protest in 1964. They later began to observe Modern Orthodox Judaism and embraced right-wing Israeli politics. After moving to Israel in 1967, they volunteered for a few months at kibbutz Dafna, where they studied the Hebrew language, then settled in the Ahuza neighborhood of Haifa. Jim Bennett found a job in the Technion, working for its fundraising team, and became a successful real estate broker turned real estate entrepreneur. Myrna Bennett was the deputy director general of the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel 's northern region.

In the summer of 1973, when Bennett was one year old, the family returned to San Francisco at the urging of his mother. With the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, Jim Bennett returned to Israel to fight in the Israel Defense Forces, serving in an artillery unit on the Golan Heights front. Following the war, the rest of the family returned to Israel at his request as he was held in reserve duty for months after the war. Bennett's parents ultimately decided to stay permanently in Israel.

In 1976, when Bennett was four years old, the family moved to Montreal for two years as part of his father's job. Upon returning to Haifa, Bennett began attending Carmel elementary school. When he was in second grade, the family moved to Teaneck, New Jersey for two years, again as part of his father's job. While living in New Jersey, Bennett attended Yavneh Academy. The family returned to Haifa when Bennett was ten.

Bennett has two brothers; they are Asher, a former Israeli Navy submarine officer and businessman based in the United Kingdom, and Daniel, an accountant for Zim Integrated Shipping Services. Bennett attended Yavne Yeshiva High School in Haifa and became a youth leader (madrich) with the religious Zionist youth organization Bnei Akiva.

### Military service

Bennett was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces in 1990. He served in the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit, and after his regular service was selected for officer training. He was given a choice of remaining in Sayeret Matkal but as a regular operator rather than a commander or transferring to the Maglan commando unit to receive a command position and chose to transfer to Maglan. He became a company commander in the Maglan unit.

Bennett was discharged from active service after six years but continued to serve in the reserves and attained the rank of major. During the time that Bennett was living in the United States and building his career as a software entrepreneur, he repeatedly traveled to Israel to do reserve duty. Bennett served during the First Intifada and in the Israeli security zone in Lebanon during the 1982–2000 South Lebanon conflict. He commanded many operations. Among other missions, he served as an officer in Operation Grapes of Wrath.

After his regular IDF service, Bennett received a law degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During the Second Intifada, he participated in Operation Defensive Shield.

He was called up as a reservist in the Maglan special forces unit during the 2006 Lebanon War and participated in a search and destroy mission behind enemy lines, operating against Hezbollah rocket launchers.

One of Bennett's actions as a commando officer became highly controversial. During Operation Grapes of Wrath, while leading a force of 67 Maglan soldiers operating in southern Lebanon, Bennett radioed for support after his unit came under mortar fire. The IDF launched an artillery barrage to cover his force, and the shelling hit a United Nations compound in which civilians were taking refuge, an incident that became known as the Qana massacre. A total of 106 Lebanese civilians were killed.

The incident resulted in a wave of international condemnation, and the subsequent diplomatic pressure caused Israel to end Operation Grapes of Wrath sooner than planned. Journalist Yigal Sarna, writing in Israeli national tabloid Yedioth Ahronoth, argued that Bennett displayed "poor judgement" during the operation. Sarna wrote that "Bennett led a force of 67 combat troops into Lebanon. At a certain point, he decided to ignore orders and change operational plans, without coordinating these moves with his superiors, who in his mind were cowardly, and not steadfast enough. Near the village of Kfar Kana, Bennett's troops were caught in an ambush."

Citing a "senior army figure", journalist Raviv Drucker said that Bennett's radio call for support after his unit came under fire was "hysterical" and contributed to the loss of life which occurred. Bennett responded: "I have now been subjected to an attack claiming that I am 'responsible for the massacre in Kfar Kana.' Heroism will not be investigated. Keep looking in the archives. My military file is available for viewing, and it's waiting for you." Former members of Bennett's unit wrote a letter defending him, saying: "Naftali... led many successful operations that led to the elimination of Hezbollah terrorists deep in enemy territory." Other officers involved in the operation, including one who was Bennett's deputy during the Qana incident, also denied that he had changed plans without consulting his superiors.

In October 2023, immediately following the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Bennett enlisted to do reserve duty, serving in the emergency storage unit of the IDF's Technological and Logistics Directorate.

### Business career

Bennett moved to the Upper East Side of Manhattan in 2000 to build a career as a software entrepreneur. In 1999, he co-founded Cyota, an anti-fraud software company, and was its CEO. The company was sold in 2005 to RSA Security for $145 million, making Bennett a multimillionaire. A stipulation of the deal allowed the Israeli arm of Cyota to remain intact. As a result, 400 Israelis are employed at the company's Israeli offices in Beersheba and Herzliya.

Bennett was the CEO of Soluto, a technology company providing cloud-based service that enables remote support for personal computers and mobile devices in 2009, at a time when he and partner Lior Golan were engaged in raising funds for myriad Israeli technology startup companies. Soluto had hitherto raised $20 million from investors, including venture capital funds Giza Venture Capital, Proxima Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Michael Arrington 's CrunchFund, and Eric Schmidt 's Innovation Endeavors and Initial Capital. The sale of Soluto for a reported $100–130 million to the American company Asurion was finalized in October 2013.

In June 2021, Forbes Israel reported that Bennett is expected to make $5 million from his investment in the American fintech company Payoneer. Bennett invested several hundred thousand dollars in the company before entering politics. Payoneer is set to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange with a $3.3 billion valuation after reaching a SPAC merger with FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp in February 2021.

## Political career

From 2010 to 2012, Bennett served as the director of the Yesha Council. In April 2011, together with Ayelet Shaked, he co-founded My Israel, which claims to have 94,000 Israeli members. In April 2012, he founded a movement named Yisraelim ("Israelis"). The movement's main goals include increasing Zionism among centre-right supporters, increasing dialogue between the religious and secular communities, and promoting "The Israel Stability Initiative."

Bennett was elected the leader of The Jewish Home party in 2012. He was reelected as the party's leader in 2015 and 2017.

Following his election to the Knesset, and before he could take his seat, Bennett had to renounce his U.S. citizenship, which he held as the son of American parents. He was appointed Minister of Economy and Minister of Religious Services in March 2013. In April 2013, he was also appointed Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs.

After being reelected in the 2015 Knesset election, Bennett was appointed Minister of Education and retained the Diaspora Affairs portfolio in the new government. In May 2015, Netanyahu split the Ministry of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, initially taking back the Jerusalem Affairs portfolio for himself. He later appointed Ze'ev Elkin to the role of Jerusalem Affairs Minister. As Minister of Education, Bennett issued an official order prohibiting school principals from inviting members of Breaking the Silence and other organizations that denounce Israel's military conduct in the West Bank.

In October 2015, Bennett resigned from the Knesset in order to allow Shuli Mualem to take his seat. His resignation took place under the Norwegian Law, which allowed ministers to resign their seats when in the cabinet but return to the Knesset if they leave the government. He returned to the Knesset on 6 December after Avi Wortzman opted to vacate his seat, having temporarily had to resign as a minister in order to do so.

Following Avigdor Lieberman 's resignation as Defense Minister in November 2018, Bennett announced that he was seeking the position for himself. On 16 November 2018, a Likud party spokesman announced that Netanyahu had rejected Bennett's request and that Netanyahu himself would take the position instead. It was then announced that Bennett's Jewish Home party would no longer be affiliated with Netanyahu's government. On 19 November, Bennett reneged on his pledge to withdraw from Netanyahu's coalition.

In December 2018, Bennett was among the Jewish Home MKs to leave the party and form the breakaway New Right party. In the April 2019 Knesset election, New Right narrowly failed to cross the electoral threshold; as a result, Bennett did not gain a seat in the 21st Knesset. In June 2019, he left the government after Netanyahu dismissed Bennett from his positions as Education and Diaspora Affairs Minister.

After the Knesset dissolved and a second election in 2019 was called for September, the New Right formed an electoral alliance with the Jewish Home and National Union-Tkuma, named the United Right which was later renamed Yamina, and was led by Ayelet Shaked. The list won seven seats in the election, and Bennett regained his Knesset seat. In November 2019, Bennett rejoined Netanyahu's government as Minister of Defense. After briefly dissolving, the Yamina alliance was reunified in January 2020 ahead of the 2020 Knesset election, with Bennett succeeding Ayelet Shaked as the new leader of the alliance. Yamina won six seats in that election.

In May 2020, with negotiations to form a new government between Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White alliance, Yamina announced that it would go into the opposition, ending Bennett's tenure as Defense Minister. The day before, Rafi Peretz, the leader of The Jewish Home, had split from the alliance, and would be named as the Minister of Jerusalem in the thirty-fifth government of Israel. On 17 May, Bennett met with Gantz, who also succeeded him as Defense Minister, and declared that Yamina was now a "head held high" member of the opposition. Tkuma, which rebranded as the Religious Zionist Party on 7 January 2021, split from Yamina on 20 January. In spite of this, Yamina won seven seats in the 2021 Knesset election in March.

## Prime Minister of Israel (2021–2022)

On 9 May 2021, it was reported that Bennett and Leader of the Opposition and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid had made major headway in coalition talks for forming a new Israeli government which would oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On 30 May, Bennett announced that he would be prime minister in a rotation government until August 2023, at which point Lapid would take over as prime minister until 2025. Bennett was sworn in on 13 June, ending Netanyahu's 12-year tenure in office. He is Israel's first kippah -wearing prime minister.

On the fast of 9th of Av, 2021, as hundreds of Jews went to mourn on the temple mount, where it was forbidden for them to pray, Bennett wrote: "The Jewish people twice had a Jewish state on the Land of Israel, and both times we did not succeed to complete the eighth decade as an independent state, because of internal wars and baseless hatred... At the time of the Roman siege on Jerusalem, the nation was divided, each group entrenched itself in its own position, and burned the food stores of the others, as part of the internal power struggle, so the Romans had a much easier task. The bitter end we all know, and until today every year on this date we mourn the awful destruction which a people with a little more baseless love, restraint, and listening, could have saved us from."

Upon the government's formation in June 2021, it held 61 seats in the Knesset; all these members of the Knesset (MK) came from coalition parties excluding Yamina's Amichai Chikli. On 6 April 2022, Yamina MK Idit Silman, resigned from the coalition, causing the governing coalition to lose its majority in the Knesset. On 13 June, Yamina MK Nir Orbach left the coalition, arguing that left-wing members of the coalition were holding it hostage. Several days later, on 20 June, Bennett and Lapid announced the introduction of a bill to dissolve the Knesset in a joint statement, stating that Lapid would become the interim prime minister following the dissolution. The Knesset was dissolved on the night of 30 June, ending Bennett's term as prime minister.

### COVID-19 pandemic

At the time of Bennett's assumption of office, the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel had somewhat subsided, with a low national infection rate and with 55% of the Israeli population having received two or more COVID-19 vaccines. Within ten days of his assumption of office, Israel underwent an outbreak of the Delta variant. In response, Bennett encouraged renewed social distancing, and the vaccination of all children aged twelve and above. In addition, he reached a deal with Pfizer to provide previously purchased vaccines before their intended delivery date to ensure the accessibility of the vaccine, and to provide additional vaccines in case a second booster shot becomes necessary. Following the variant's continued spread, a second booster shot and third overall shot was approved by the government on 1 August 2021 for all individuals aged 60 or older, which was expanded on 29 August to all adults.

Israel experienced a surge in COVID cases beginning in late November 2021. By December, the first cases of the Omicron variant were being reported in the country, the government responded by restricting air travel to the country and encouraging the vaccination of children and teenagers. On 2 January 2022, following an additional surge in late December, a third booster shot, and a fourth overall shot, was approved by the government for all individuals aged 60 or older. Cases grew at a steady pace through January and began to decrease, stabilizing again in March before continuing to fall. Israel ended its mask mandate in late April.

### Foreign policy

King Mohammed VI of Morocco sent a special congratulatory letter to Prime Minister Bennett upon his taking office. Bennett responded that he would "work to reinforce Israeli-Moroccan relations in all areas". Israel and Morocco restored diplomatic relations on 10 December 2020, as part of the Israel–Morocco normalization agreement involving the United States, which at the same time recognized Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara. In August 2021, the two parties agreed to enter formal diplomatic relations, and to open embassies in Tel Aviv and Marrakesh respectively.

That month, Bennett made his first visit to the United States, where he met Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and AIPAC CEO Howard Kohr. He subsequently met President Joe Biden on 27 August 2021. In this meeting, Bennett described Israel's strategy against Iran as "a death by a thousand cuts" or " lingchi ".

On 27 September, Bennett addressed the general assembly of the United Nations in his first speech there. He talked about fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and combatting political polarization. In addition, Bennett denounced Iran 's alleged state-sponsored terrorism, which he argued brought harm not only to Israel but also to many countries in the Middle East. He warned of Iran's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, stating that Israel would not allow it.

On 12 December, he visited the United Arab Emirates in the first visit of the country by an Israeli Prime Minister, meeting with then crown prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Mohamed bin Zayed. On 14 February 2022 he visited Manama, marking the first time an Israeli Prime Minister officially visited Bahrain.

On 5 March 2022, Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a meeting coordinated with the United States, France, and Germany. The Kremlin stated that Bennett had offered to mediate between Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Bennett then flew on the same day to Germany to brief German chancellor Olaf Scholz, updated French President Macron by telephone, and spoke with Zelenskyy twice in the evening, but few details were disclosed publicly. According to Al Monitor, the meetings were instigated by Scholz who made a lightning visit to Israel on 3 March and held a long one-on-one meeting, which resulted in the mediation idea. Natan Sharansky, former head of the Jewish Agency for Israel, criticised Bennett, saying he was afraid to call out Putin by name for war crimes, and said Israel should provide defensive arms to Ukraine. Bennett later faced criticism for putting himself forward as neutral mediator amid global condemnation of Putin, while refusing requests from Ukraine for military equipment.

## Alternate Prime Minister and post-political career

Upon the end of his term, Bennett became the Alternate Prime Minister of Israel on 30 June. On 29 June 2022, Bennett announced that he would not run in the next election, and retire from politics at the end of his term as Alternate Prime Minister. Following the election, Bennett resigned from his position on 6 November, with his term ending two days later. Following his retirement, Bennett joined the board of directors of Israeli Tech company Quantom Source in May 2023.

## Political positions

Bennett's positions have been described as " ultra-nationalist ", and Bennett describes himself, and has been described, as "more right wing" than Netanyahu. He had also been labeled a "pragmatist" and an "opportunist". He opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, and supports cutting taxes.

### Israeli–Palestinian conflict

In February 2012, Bennett published a plan to manage the Israeli–Palestinian conflict called "The Israel Stability Initiative." The plan was based in part on elements of earlier initiatives, such as "Peace on Earth" by Adi Mintz and the " Elon Peace Plan " by Binyamin Elon. It relied on statements of Netanyahu and Likud party ministers in favor of unilateral annexation of the West Bank. Bennett opposed the creation of a Palestinian state, saying: "I will do everything in my power to make sure they never get a state."

In January 2013, Bennett suggested a tripartition of the Palestinian territories, whereby Israel would unilaterally annex Area C, authority over the Gaza Strip would be transferred to Egypt, and Area A and Area B would remain with the Palestinian National Authority, but under the security umbrella of the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet to "ensure quiet, suppress Palestinian terrorism, and prevent Hamas from taking over the territory." Area C constituted 62% of the area, and approximately 365,000 people lived in Israeli settlements. Palestinians who lived in this area would be offered Israeli citizenship or permanent residency status (between 48,000, according to Bennett, and 150,000, according to other surveys).

Finally, Israel would invest in creating roads so Palestinians could travel between Areas A and B without checkpoints, and invest in infrastructure and joint industrial zones, because "eace grows from below – through people, and people in daily life." Bennett also resisted immigration of Palestinian refugees now living outside the West Bank, or the connection between the Hamas -controlled Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In 2011, he stated that there were about 50 factories in the West Bank industrial region where Israelis and Palestinians work together and cited this as one workable approach to finding peace between the two sides.

In June 2013, Bennett suggested that Israel must learn to live with the Palestinian problem without a "surgical action" of separation to two states: "I have a friend who's got shrapnel in his rear end, and he's been told that it can be removed surgically, but it would leave him disabled.... So he decided to live with it. There are situations where insisting on perfection can lead to more trouble than it's worth." Bennett's "Shrapnel in the butt" quickly became widely known as representing his view of the Palestinian problem.

In response to Israel's release of Palestinian prisoners in 2013, Bennett said that Palestinian terrorists should be shot, allegedly adding: "I already killed lots of Arabs in my life, and there is absolutely no problem with that." Bennett was widely condemned for these words, although he denied saying them, claiming he said merely that "terrorists should be killed if they pose an immediate life threat to our soldiers when in action." In January 2013, Bennett said: "There is not going to be a Palestinian state within the tiny land of Israel. It's just not going to happen. A Palestinian state would be a disaster for the next 200 years."

In December 2014, a group of academics who opposed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and members of The Third Narrative, a Labor Zionist organization, called on the U.S. and E.U. to impose sanctions on Bennett and three other Israelis "who lead efforts to insure permanent Israeli occupation of the West Bank and to annex all or parts of it unilaterally in violation of international law." The academics, who called themselves Scholars for Israel and Palestine (SIP) and claimed to be "pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, pro-peace", asked the U.S. and EU to freeze Bennett's foreign assets and impose visa restrictions. Bennett was chosen as a target for proposed sanctions because of his work in opposing the 2010 settlement freeze while he was director of the Yesha Council, actively supporting annexation of over 60% of the West Bank, and "pressing strongly for a policy of creeping annexation."

In October 2016, Bennett said: "On the matter of the Land of Israel, we have to move from holding action to a decision. We have to mark the dream, and the dream is that Judea and Samaria will be part of the sovereign State of Israel. We have to act today, and we must give our lives. We can't keep marking the Land of Israel as a tactical target and a Palestinian state as the strategic target." In November 2016, Bennett said that the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States gave him hope that the two-state solution would no longer be considered viable, claiming: "The era of the Palestinian state is over."

According to Israeli journalist Anshel Pfeffer, those who have worked with Bennett have privately said that much of his rhetoric is for electioneering purposes, and he is in fact more moderate than believed. In spite of his expressed right-wing views against a Palestinian state, while engaged in coalition negotiations for a unity government with Yair Lapid and other party leaders following the 2021 Knesset election, during which he was offered the prime ministership, Bennett agreed to a policy of not annexing any territory in the West Bank and to not build any new settlements while being prime minister in a potential unity government.

In October 2023, during the Israel–Hamas war, he expressed support for Israel's total blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying "I’m not going to feed electricity to my enemies."

### Economy and society

Bennett believes in less government regulation of the private sector and that private businesses are the engine of economic growth. He favors social support of vulnerable populations such as the elderly and disabled. Bennett has said Israel needs to break the monopoly of the tycoons, the major labor unions, and the Ministry of Defense, which in his opinion are strangling Israel's economy. He believes the key to reducing disparities is equality of opportunity and investment in education in the periphery, to give tools to populations of weaker economic backgrounds. By doing so, Bennett believes weaker populations in Israel will be given the opportunity to succeed professionally and financially. He supports the provision of land to veterans in the periphery, in the Negev, and the Galilee, to promote a national solution to the problem of "affordable housing" and a more equitable distribution of the population in Israel. He has also pledged to remove heavy bureaucratic challenges to small and medium-sized Israeli businesses.

As Economy Minister, Bennett oversaw a new strategy by Israel to increase trade with emerging markets around the world and reduce trade with the European Union, so as to diversify its foreign trade. The two main reasons for this shift are to take advantage of opportunities in emerging markets and to avert the threat of possible EU sanctions on Israel over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Bennett acknowledged that he was seeking to reduce Israel's economic dependence on the EU to reduce its influence on Israel. According to the Financial Times, Bennett is the primary architect of this economic pivot. Under his leadership, the Economy Ministry began opening new trade attaché offices in Asia, Africa, and South America, and also began closing some trade offices in Europe and consolidating others with offices in neighboring countries. As part of this process, Bennett opened negotiations with Russia and China on free trade agreements, oversaw continuing negotiations with India for a free trade agreement, and led economic delegations to China and India. While attending the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2013 in Bali, Indonesia, Bennett held talks with delegations from some unspecified countries on the possibility of future free trade agreements.

Bennett implemented reforms to lower Israel's high food prices. Under his oversight, import duties and barriers were reduced, and mechanisms were set up to ensure more competition in the Israeli food industry. These reforms have been credited with a decline in Israeli food prices that began in April 2014 and continued throughout the rest of the year and into 2015. According to a Haaretz editorial, a fall in global commodity prices and dire financial straits among many Israeli consumers prompted the decline, not the reforms. Bennett has led a push to integrate Haredi men, many of whom are unemployed, into the workforce. According to Bennett, their integration into the workforce will greatly bolster economic growth. Under his "voucher plan", the Ministry of the Economy issues vouchers for hundreds of vocational schools that will allow Haredi men to avoid mandatory military service, at least temporarily, in exchange for enrolling in a vocational school to learn a trade. Bennett also wants to increase employment rate among Israeli-Arab women. In October 2021, Bennett's administration approved plans to spend billions of dollars to improve conditions for Israel's Arab minority.

An adherent of Orthodox Judaism, Bennett opposes the implementation of same-sex marriage in Israel, "just as we don't recognize milk and meat together as kosher", but has expressed support for equivalent rights such as tax breaks for same-sex couples. Following the murder of a 16-year-old girl at the Jerusalem gay pride parade in 2015, Bennett, who was Education Minister at the time, instructed the Education Ministry to prepare programs to prevent future attacks on the LGBTQ community, saying: "We are responding to this attack with actions and not just talk." While Bennett has voiced support for LGBTQ rights, saying "they deserve all of the civil rights", he stated in late 2020 that he had no plans to push for policy changes to help LGBTQ people.

## Personal life

Bennett's wife, Gilat, is a professional pastry chef. She was secular, but following her husband she now observes the Sabbath and kashrut. The couple have four children and live in Ra'anana, a city 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Tel Aviv. Their eldest son Yonatan is named after Yonatan Netanyahu, and their youngest son David Emmanuel is named after Emmanuel Moreno, who was a comrade of Bennett's in the special forces. Bennett adheres to Modern Orthodox Judaism.


Dash Shaw

# Dash Shaw

## Abstract

Dash Shaw is an American comic book writer/artist and animator. He is the author of the graphic novels Cosplayers, Doctors, New School, and Bottomless Belly Button, published by Fantagraphics. Additionally, Shaw has written Love Eats Brains published by Odd God Press, GardenHead published by Meathaus, The Mother's Mouth published by Alternative Comics, and BodyWorld published by Pantheon Books.

Shaw's comic short stories have appeared in many different anthologies, newspapers and magazines. His square-sized short stories were collected in the 2005 book GoddessHead published by Hidden Agenda Press. His comics are known for their emphasis on emotional, lyrical logic and innovative design. He was named one of the top ten artists to check out at the 2002 "Small Press Expo" when he was 19 years old. He also writes lyrics and plays with James Blanca in the weirdo pop band Love Eats Brains! and has co-written and acted in various short film projects.

Shaw is the director of the animated features My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea (2016) and Cryptozoo (2021).

## Early life

Shaw studied at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, graduating with a BFA in Illustration in 2005.

## Career

Throughout college and since, Shaw has published sequential art short stories in a variety of publications in the United States and abroad, plus numerous magazine illustrations.

Shaw's Bottomless Belly Button was published by Fantagraphics in June 2008. His BodyWorld webcomic was bought by Pantheon Books and published in a single printed volume in April 2010.

Bottomless, an exhibition of Shaw's original drawings, storyboards, color background overlays and a new video animation, was on display at Duke University 's John Hope Franklin Center from September 25 through October 31, 2008.

In the years following Bottomless Belly Button, Shaw published numerous short stories in comics form, and serialized the science-fiction story BodyWorld on dashshaw.com. It received an Eisner Award nomination for Best Digital Comic in 2009.

Late 2009 saw the release by Fantagraphics of The Unclothed Man In the 35th Century A.D., a collection of short stories that Shaw had previously published in MOME, along with several pages of storyboards and other ephemera from his animated shorts for IFC.

In 2010, Pantheon Books released the collected chapters of BodyWorld in the form of a graphic novel,

In 2013, releases from Shaw included the zine-style mini-comic New Jobs (Uncivilized Books), the comic-book length shorts collection 3 New Stories (Fantagraphics), and Shaw's next graphic novel, New School (Fantagraphics). New School takes place on an island preparing for an influx of English-speaking tourists upon the completion of a massive theme park depicting periods throughout history. It follows two brothers, one who has taken a job teaching English to island locals and another who has come to retrieve his sibling. In the course of the book, both brothers experience alienation from their surroundings and conflicts with the locals. NPR called New School "striking and enigmatic," while Publishers Weekly described the book as "an unusual combination of bildungsroman, travelogue, and intellectual thriller."

Shaw produced the three-part miniseries Clue: Candlestick for IDW comics in 2019.

## Technique and materials

Shaw employs a combination of hand drawing, animation techniques and Photoshop to produce his artwork. Shaw started working on acetate sheets while studying at the School of Visual Arts. Pointing to pre- Photoshop comics that were colored via clear celluloid containing the black line art, under which would be placed a board with the painted colors, Shaw explains that he took this process and combined it with animation -style use of celluloid, where the backs of the acetate are painted with gouache and laid over a painted background, in addition to color separations where black line art is used to mark the different colors. In addition to using hand-drawing media such as crow quill pens, colored pencils, and markers, Shaw incorporates collage, Photoshop, and painting directly over photocopies, though he does not work with a separate line art layer, preferring to treat black as simply another color, and not a separate or more important element. On BodyWorld, for example, Shaw did the color separations by hand, used the paint bucket tool in Photoshop to color the shapes, and then printed it out and painted over the photocopy, before scanning it again and making final adjustments in Photoshop to achieve the final art.

Shaw explains that his key motive is combining what he likes about hand drawing with the processes available in Photoshop. He has stated that he does not own a drawing tablet, and that his actual knowledge of Photoshop is limited, compared to most mainstream colorists who rely on it exclusively, explaining, "that coloring leaves me cold."

## Animation

His animation influences include Winsor McCay, Osamu Tezuka (in particular his work on Astroboy), and other 60s anime shows like Speed Racer, the 1973 cult films Belladonna of Sadness and Fantastic Planet, limited animation (including A Charlie Brown Christmas), Ralph Bakshi and Suzan Pitt.

Shaw's first animated feature film My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea had its world premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2016 and was also shown at the New York Film Festival (NYFF). It features the voices of Jason Schwartzman, Lena Dunham, Reggie Watts, Maya Rudolph and Susan Sarandon.

He was also responsible for the "comic book" scenes in John Cameron Mitchell 's 2010 film Rabbit Hole and the animated dream sequence on an episode of the controversial Netflix series 13 Reasons Why alongside Jane Samborski.

### Cryptozoo

His next feature Cryptozoo, about 1960s San Francisco zookeepers trying to capture a mysterious creature, was released in early 2021 at the Sundance Film Festival where it won the NEXT Innovator Award. It was also nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the 37th Independent Spirit Awards.

## Works

### Graphic novels

- Bottomless Belly Button (Fantagraphics, 2008)

- BodyWorld (Pantheon Books, 2009)

- New School (Fantagraphics, 2013)

- Doctors (Fantagraphics, 2014)

- Cosplayers (Fantagraphics, 2016)

- Clue: Candlestick (IDW Comics, 2019)

- Discipline (New York Review Comics, 2021)

- Blurry (New York Review Comics, 2024)

### Mini-comics and story collections

- GardenHead (Meathaus, 2002)

- Love Eats Brains! A Zombie Romance (Odd God Press, 2004)

- GoddessHead (Hidden Agenda Press, 2005)

- The Mother's Mouth (Alternative Comics, 2006)

- Virginia (Ça et Là, 2009)

- The Unclothed Man In the 35th Century A.D. (Fantagraphics, 2009)

- Doctor Strange story in Strange Tales II #1 (Marvel Enterprises, 2010)

- New Jobs (Uncivilized Books, 2013)

- 3 New Stories (Fantagraphics, 2013)

- A Cosplayers Christmas (Fantagraphics, 2016)

- Courier (Bomb Magazine, 2024)

### Covers only

- Go-Bots #1 Cover C (IDW Comics, 2018)

- Go-Bots #2 Cover B (IDW Comics, 2018)

- Go-Bots #3 Cover B (IDW Comics, 2018)

### Short animations

- The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. (IFC.com animated series, 2009)

- Blind Date 4 (2011)

- Wheel of Fortune (2012)

- Seraph (Sigur Rós music video, cowritten with John Cameron Mitchell, 2012)

### Films

- My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea (2016)

- Cryptozoo (2021)

### Other work

#### As illustrator

- My Beautiful Despair: The Philosophy of Kim Kierkegaardashian (Gallery Books, 2018)


Ivermectin

# Ivermectin

## Abstract

Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug. After its discovery in 1975, its first uses were in veterinary medicine to prevent and treat heartworm and acariasis. Approved for human use in 1987, it is used to treat infestations including head lice, scabies, river blindness (onchocerciasis), strongyloidiasis, trichuriasis, ascariasis and lymphatic filariasis. It works through many mechanisms to kill the targeted parasites, and can be taken by mouth, or applied to the skin for external infestations. It belongs to the avermectin family of medications.

William Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for its discovery and applications. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, and is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as an antiparasitic agent. In 2021, it was the 341st most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 100,000 prescriptions. It is available as a generic medicine.

Misinformation has been widely spread claiming that ivermectin is beneficial for treating and preventing COVID-19. Such claims are not backed by credible scientific evidence. Multiple major health organizations, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the European Medicines Agency, and the World Health Organization have advised that ivermectin is not recommended for the treatment of COVID-19.

## Medical uses

Ivermectin is used to treat human diseases caused by roundworms and a wide variety of external parasites.

### Worm infections

For river blindness (onchocerciasis) and lymphatic filariasis, ivermectin is typically given as part of mass drug administration campaigns that distribute the drug to all members of a community affected by the disease. Adult worms survive in the skin and eventually recover to produce larval worms again; to keep the worms at bay, ivermectin is given at least once per year for the 10 – 15-year lifespan of the adult worms.

The World Health Organization (WHO) considers ivermectin the drug of choice for strongyloidiasis. Ivermectin is also the primary treatment for Mansonella ozzardi and cutaneous larva migrans. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends ivermectin, albendazole, or mebendazole as treatments for ascariasis. Ivermectin is sometimes added to albendazole or mebendazole for whipworm treatment, and is considered a second-line treatment for gnathostomiasis.

### Mites and insects

Ivermectin is also used to treat infection with parasitic arthropods. Scabies – infestation with the mite Sarcoptes scabiei – is most commonly treated with topical permethrin or oral ivermectin. A single application of permethrin is more efficacious than a single treatment of ivermectin. For most scabies cases, ivermectin is used in a two dose regimen: a first dose kills the active mites, but not their eggs. Over the next week, the eggs hatch, and a second dose kills the newly hatched mites. The two dose regimen of ivermectin has similar efficacy to the single dose permethrin treatment. Ivermectin is, however, more effective than permethrin when used in the mass treatment of endemic scabies.

For severe "crusted scabies", where the parasite burden is orders of magnitude higher than usual, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends up to seven doses of ivermectin over the course of a month, along with a topical antiparasitic. Both head lice and pubic lice can be treated with oral ivermectin, an ivermectin lotion applied directly to the affected area, or various other insecticides. Ivermectin is also used to treat rosacea and blepharitis, both of which can be caused or exacerbated by Demodex folliculorum mites.

## Contraindications

The only absolute contraindication to the use of ivermectin is hypersensitivity to the active ingredient or any component of the formulation. In children under the age of five or those who weigh less than 15 kilograms (33 pounds), there is limited data regarding the efficacy or safety of ivermectin, though the available data demonstrate few adverse effects. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics cautions against use of ivermectin in such patients, as the blood-brain barrier is less developed, and thus there may be an increased risk of particular CNS side effects such as encephalopathy, ataxia, coma, or death. The American Academy of Family Physicians also recommends against use in these patients, given a lack of sufficient data to prove drug safety. Ivermectin is secreted in very low concentration in breast milk. It remains unclear if ivermectin is safe during pregnancy.

## Adverse effects

Side effects, although uncommon, include fever, itching, and skin rash when taken by mouth; and red eyes, dry skin, and burning skin when used topically for head lice. It is unclear if the drug is safe for use during pregnancy, but it is probably acceptable for use during breastfeeding.

Ivermectin is considered relatively free of toxicity in standard doses (around 300 μg/kg). Based on the data drug safety sheet for ivermectin, side effects are uncommon. However, serious adverse events following ivermectin treatment are more common in people with very high burdens of larval Loa loa worms in their blood. Those who have over 30,000 microfilaria per milliliter of blood risk inflammation and capillary blockage due to the rapid death of the microfilaria following ivermectin treatment.

One concern is neurotoxicity after large overdoses, which in most mammalian species may manifest as central nervous system depression, ataxia, coma, and even death, as might be expected from potentiation of inhibitory chloride channels.

Since drugs that inhibit the enzyme CYP3A4 often also inhibit P-glycoprotein transport, the risk of increased absorption past the blood-brain barrier exists when ivermectin is administered along with other CYP3A4 inhibitors. These drugs include statins, HIV protease inhibitors, many calcium channel blockers, lidocaine, the benzodiazepines, and glucocorticoids such as dexamethasone.

During the course of a typical treatment, ivermectin can cause minor aminotransferase elevations. In rare cases it can cause mild clinically apparent liver disease.

To provide context for the dosing and toxicity ranges, the LD of ivermectin in mice is 25 mg/kg (oral), and 80 mg/kg in dogs, corresponding to an approximated human-equivalent dose LD50 range of 2.02–43.24 mg/kg, which is far in excess of its FDA-approved usage (a single dose of 0.150–0.200 mg/kg to be used for specific parasitic infections). While ivermectin has also been studied for use in COVID-19, and while it has some ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in vitro, achieving 50% inhibition in vitro was found to require an estimated oral dose of 7.0 mg/kg (or 35x the maximum FDA-approved dosage), high enough to be considered ivermectin poisoning. Despite insufficient data to show any safe and effective dosing regimen for ivermectin in COVID-19, doses have been taken far in excess of FDA-approved dosing, leading the CDC to issue a warning of overdose symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension, decreased level of consciousness, confusion, blurred vision, visual hallucinations, loss of coordination and balance, seizures, coma, and death. The CDC advises against consuming doses intended for livestock or doses intended for external use and warns that increasing misuse of ivermectin-containing products is resulting in an increase in harmful overdoses.

## Pharmacology

### Mechanism of action

Ivermectin and its related drugs act by interfering with the nerve and muscle functions of helminths and insects. The drug binds to glutamate -gated chloride channels common to invertebrate nerve and muscle cells. The binding pushes the channels open, which increases the flow of chloride ions and hyper-polarizes the cell membranes, paralyzing and killing the invertebrate. Ivermectin is safe for mammals (at the normal therapeutic doses used to cure parasite infections) because mammalian glutamate-gated chloride channels only occur in the brain and spinal cord: the causative avermectins usually do not cross the blood–brain barrier, and are unlikely to bind to other mammalian ligand-gated channels.

### Pharmacokinetics

Ivermectin can be given by mouth, topically, or via injection. Oral doses are absorbed into systemic circulation; the alcoholic solution form is more orally available than tablet and capsule forms. Ivermectin is widely distributed in the body.

Ivermectin does not readily cross the blood–brain barrier of mammals due to the presence of P-glycoprotein (the MDR1 gene mutation affects the function of this protein). Crossing may still become significant if ivermectin is given at high doses, in which case brain levels peak 2–5 hours after administration. In contrast to mammals, ivermectin can cross the blood–brain barrier in tortoises, often with fatal consequences.

Ivermectin is metabolized into eight different products by human CYP3A4, two of which (M1, M2) remain toxic to mosquitos. M1 and M2 also have longer elimination half-lives of about 55 hours. CYP3A5 produces a ninth metabolite.

## Chemistry

Fermentation of Streptomyces avermitilis yields eight closely related avermectin homologues, of which B and B form the bulk of the products isolated. In a separate chemical step, the mixture is hydrogenated to give ivermectin, which is an approximately 80:20 mixture of the two 22,23-dihydroavermectin compounds.

Ivermectin is a macrocyclical lactone.

## History

The avermectin family of compounds was discovered by Satoshi Ōmura of Kitasato University and William Campbell of Merck. In 1970, Ōmura isolated a strain of Streptomyces avermitilis from woodland soil near a golf course along the south east coast of Honshu, Japan. Ōmura sent the bacteria to William Campbell, who showed that the bacterial culture could cure mice infected with the roundworm Heligmosomoides polygyrus. Campbell isolated the active compounds from the bacterial culture, naming them "avermectins" and the bacterium Streptomyces avermitilis for the compounds' ability to clear mice of worms (in Latin: a 'without', vermis 'worms'). Of the various avermectins, Campbell's group found the compound "avermectin B " to be the most potent when taken orally. They synthesized modified forms of avermectin B to improve its pharmaceutical properties, eventually choosing a mixture of at least 80% 22,23-dihydroavermectin B and up to 20% 22,23-dihydroavermectin B, a combination they called "ivermectin".

The discovery of ivermectin has been described as a combination of "chance and choice." Merck was looking for a broad-spectrum anthelmintic, which ivermectin is indeed; however, Campbell noted that they "...also found a broad-spectrum agent for the control of ectoparasitic insects and mites."

Merck began marketing ivermectin as a veterinary antiparasitic in 1981. By 1986, ivermectin was registered for use in 46 countries and was administered massively to cattle, sheep and other animals. By the late 1980s, ivermectin was the bestselling veterinary medicine in the world. Following its blockbuster success as a veterinary antiparasitic, another Merck scientist, Mohamed Aziz, collaborated with the World Health Organization to test the safety and efficacy of ivermectin against onchocerciasis in humans. They found it to be highly safe and effective, triggering Merck to register ivermectin for human use as "Mectizan" in France in 1987. A year later, Merck CEO Roy Vagelos agreed that Merck would donate all ivermectin needed to eradicate river blindness. In 1998, that donation would be expanded to include ivermectin used to treat lymphatic filariasis.

Ivermectin earned the title of "wonder drug" for the treatment of nematodes and arthropod parasites. Ivermectin has been used safely by hundreds of millions of people to treat river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.

Half of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Campbell and Ōmura for discovering ivermectin, "the derivatives of which have radically lowered the incidence of river blindness and lymphatic filariasis, as well as showing efficacy against an expanding number of other parasitic diseases".

## Society and culture

### COVID-19 misinformation

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, laboratory research suggested ivermectin might have a role in preventing or treating COVID-19. Online misinformation campaigns and advocacy boosted the drug's profile among the public. While scientists and physicians largely remained skeptical, some nations adopted ivermectin as part of their pandemic-control efforts. Some people, desperate to use ivermectin without a prescription, took veterinary preparations, which led to shortages of supplies of ivermectin for animal treatment. The FDA responded to this situation by saying "You are not a horse" in a Tweet to draw attention to the issue, for which they were later sued.

### Economics

The initial price proposed by Merck in 1987 was US$ 6 per treatment, which was unaffordable for patients who most needed ivermectin. The company donated hundreds of millions of courses of treatments since 1988 in more than 30 countries. Between 1995 and 2010, using donated ivermectin to prevent river blindness, the program is estimated to have prevented seven million years of disability at a cost of US$ 257 million.

Ivermectin is considered an inexpensive drug. As of 2019, ivermectin tablets (Stromectol) in the United States were the least expensive treatment option for lice in children at approximately US$ 9.30, while Sklice, an ivermectin lotion, cost around US$ 300 for 120 mL (4 US fl oz).

As of 2019, the cost effectiveness of treating scabies and lice with ivermectin has not been studied.

### Brand names

It is sold under the brand names Heartgard, Sklice and Stromectol in the United States, Ivomec worldwide by Merial Animal Health, Mectizan in Canada by Merck, Iver-DT in Nepal by Alive Pharmaceutical and Ivexterm in Mexico by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International. In Southeast Asian countries, it is marketed by Delta Pharma Ltd. under the trade name Scabo 6. The formulation for rosacea treatment is sold under the brand name Soolantra. While in development, it was assigned the code MK-933 by Merck.

## Research

### Parasitic disease

Ivermectin has been researched in laboratory animals, as a potential treatment for trichinosis and trypanosomiasis.

Ivermectin has also been tested on zebrafish infected with Pseudocapillaria tomentosa.

### Tropical diseases

As of 2016 ivermectin was studied as a potential antiviral agent against chikungunya and yellow fever. In chikungunya, ivermectin showed a wide in vitro safety margin as an antiviral.

Ivermectin is also of interest in the prevention of malaria, as it is toxic to both the malaria plasmodium itself and the mosquitos that carry it. A direct effect on malaria parasites could not be shown in an experimental infection of volunteers with Plasmodium falciparum. Use of ivermectin at higher doses necessary to control malaria is probably safe, though large clinical trials have not yet been done to definitively establish the efficacy or safety of ivermectin for prophylaxis or treatment of malaria. Mass drug administration of a population with ivermectin to treat and prevent nematode infestation is effective for eliminating malaria-bearing mosquitos and thereby potentially reducing infection with residual malaria parasites. Whilst effective in killing malaria-bearing mosquitos, a 2021 Cochrane review found that, to date, the evidence shows no significant impact on reducing incidence of malaria transmission from the community administration of ivermectin.

One alternative to ivermectin is moxidectin, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in people with river blindness. Moxidectin has a longer half-life than ivermectin and may eventually supplant ivermectin as it is a more potent microfilaricide, but there is a need for additional clinical trials, with long-term follow-up, to assess whether moxidectin is safe and effective for treatment of nematode infection in children and women of childbearing potential.

There is tentative evidence that ivermectin kills bedbugs, as part of integrated pest management for bedbug infestations. However, such use may require a prolonged course of treatment which is of unclear safety.

### NAFLD

In 2013, ivermectin was demonstrated as a novel ligand of the farnesoid X receptor, a therapeutic target for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

### COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, ivermectin was researched for possible utility in preventing and treating COVID-19, but no good evidence of benefit was found.

## Veterinary use

Ivermectin is routinely used to control parasitic worms in the gastrointestinal tract of ruminant animals. These parasites normally enter the animal when it is grazing, pass the bowel, and set and mature in the intestines, after which they produce eggs that leave the animal via its droppings and can infest new pastures. Ivermectin is only effective in killing some of these parasites, because of an increase in anthelmintic resistance. This resistance has arisen from the persistent use of the same anthelmintic drugs for the past 40 years. Additionally, the use of Ivermectin for livestock has a profound impact on dung beetles, such as T. lusitanicus, as it can lead to acute toxicity within these insects.

In dogs, ivermectin is routinely used as prophylaxis against heartworm. Dogs with defects in the P-glycoprotein gene (MDR1), often collie-like herding dogs, can be severely poisoned by ivermectin. The mnemonic "white feet, don't treat" refers to Scotch collies that are vulnerable to ivermectin. Some other dog breeds (especially the Rough Collie, the Smooth Collie, the Shetland Sheepdog, and the Australian Shepherd), also have a high incidence of mutation within the MDR1 gene (coding for P-glycoprotein) and are sensitive to the toxic effects of ivermectin. For dogs, the insecticide spinosad may have the effect of increasing the toxicity of ivermectin.

A 0.01% ivermectin topical preparation for treating ear mites in cats is available. Clinical evidence suggests 7-week-old kittens are susceptible to ivermectin toxicity.

Ivermectin is sometimes used as an acaricide in reptiles, both by injection and as a diluted spray. While this works well in some cases, care must be taken, as several species of reptiles are very sensitive to ivermectin. Use in turtles is particularly contraindicated.

A characteristic of the antinematodal action of ivermectin is its potency: for instance, to combat Dirofilaria immitis in dogs, ivermectin is effective at 0.001 milligram per kilogram of body weight when administered orally.