All Americans, including holders of dual US-Israeli citizenship will benefit from this agreement. (illustrative image) Greg Blomberg / stock.adobe.com
This authorization is also valid for Palestinians with American nationality. A first for these nationals who could not enter the territory of Israel without a visa.
Israel will allow any American who wishes to enter its territory without a visa as of Thursday, as part of a broader reciprocity agreement signed on Wednesday, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister announced.
“The implementation of this procedure will allow any American to enter Israel and thereafter, when Israel is admitted into this program, any Israeli will be able to enter the United States without a visa.“Said a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office.
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“The State of Israel has taken another important step in its application for the visa waiver program to enter the United States“, continues the press release, specifying that “the reciprocity procedurewill come into effect this Thursday. All Americans, including holders of dual US-Israeli citizenship and those living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, will benefit from the agreement, according to the statement. Palestinians with American nationality could not until now enter Israel without a visa when passing through Ben Gurion airport, near Tel Aviv, but were forced to pass through neighboring Jordan.
In the United States, nationals of 40 countries are exempt from entry visas for short leisure or business stays. Israel has been negotiating its membership in this program for several years. This announcement by Israelwill initiate a process during which we will monitor its implementationsaid US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on Wednesday, adding that the United States would decide by September 30, 2023 whether Israel “can be admitted to the program» visa exemptions. This announcement comes as Israeli President Isaac Herzog is on an official visit to the United States and against a backdrop of tensions between US President Joe Biden and the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, which advocates a reform of the Israeli judicial system deemed “anti-democratic“, in particular by Washington.