Israel reopens to travellers from other countries, except US

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

After cracking down on intercontinental travel in recent weeks due to the fast-spreading omicron variant, Israel is readying to welcome back travellers from more than 200 countries – but not the United States.

It is starting from Sunday, vaccinated and recovered foreign nationals from counties on Israel’s “orange list” will be allowed to enter so long as they are fully vaccinated and meet entry requirements such as pre-and post-departure testing.

The countries from Israel’s “red list” – which includes the U.S. – cannot enter unless they receive approval from an exceptions committee, according to Israel’s Ministry of Health.

The red list also includes the United Kingdom, Mexico, Switzerland, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

The easing of restrictions is set to come six weeks after Israel issued a ban on foreign national travellers. This travel ban went into effect on Nov. 28, one day after the country detected its first case of the omicron variant within its borders. 

Since then, COVID-19 cases have spiked. Israel reported nearly 27,000 confirmed cases the week of December 20 nearly three times that reported the week prior, according to the World Health Organization.

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