Israel is to reopen to unvaccinated international tourists as the country declares victory over the Omicron variant. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has announced a rollback of a slew of pandemic restrictions in recent days including the suspension of Israel’s vaccine passport scheme for entry to restaurants, cafes, bars and other public spaces.
Following a meeting with Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, which was also attended by tourism ministry officials, Bennett said Israel would drop vaccination rules for foreign visitors from March 1.
Tourists will, however still be required to have two PCR tests – one test must be taken within 72 hours of departure, while a second will be required on entry into Israel. Tourists won’t be required to quarantine while they are waiting for the results of the test.
Returning Israelis, meanwhile, will be able to completely forego a pre-departure test but will still need to take a PCR test on arrival in Israel.
Israel has deployed some of the strictest pandemic travel restrictions in the world and for much of the last two years,l the country has been out of bounds to foreign tourists.
Through other periods, international travel has been almost completely banned or travelers have been forced to endure mandatory quarantine.
Unlike some other countries, though, Israel quickly abandoned an ill-fated attempt at a hotel quarantine scheme after realising that it was unworkable.
