Pfizer identifies information site as being in 'Palestine', sparking outrage in Israel

Pfizer has potentially upset one of its greatest advocates after identifying an information centre in the Israeli city of Herzliya as being in Palestine, according to media reports.

Israeli visitors to the Pfizer website viewing an interactive global map displaying locations and contact numbers of medical information sites were angered after it showed that one of the two locations for Israel as "Palestine".

Late last month, Israel's health ministry reportedly hailed the Covid-19 vaccine made by BioNTech and Pfizer as highly effective in preventing infections in Israel, in the first real-world data showing that vaccination does stop the transmission of the virus.

The Pfizer Herzliya information site glitch was first reported by The Jerusalem Post, which received no response from the pharmaceutical giant when it reached out for comment.

Since then, details of only one Pfizer information site appear for Israel on the Google-powered map, in the southern Negev region of Mitze Ramon.

Israel is leading the world in vaccination numbers for its population, but has also been criticised for refusing to vaccinate Palestinians in territories it occupies.

Critics have dubbed the vaccination campaign as "medical apartheid", but Israel insists that according to the Oslo Accords it is not responsible for the West Bank.

In July, a false claim emerged that Google and Apple had deleted Palestine from online maps.

The Palestinian Authority's (PA) communication minister said his government was searching for an alternative to Google in response. US musician Madonna also made a series of Instagram posts expressing support for Palestine.

Read more: Madonna supports 'Google deletes Palestine' campaign, but did it actually happen?

However, searches for 'Palestine' on the two internet maps have always shown the Gaza Strip and West Bank territories.

The UN has de-facto recognised Palestine as an independent state but not the US, where Apple and Google are based.

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