Jerusalem – Israel under a pilot programme to start tourism, will allow small foreign tour groups from selective nations to visit from Sept. 19, the government said on Sunday (Sept. 5).
The Tourism Ministry said, “Tour groups of between 5 and 30 people from countries on Israel’s green, yellow and orange lists will be allowed to enter the country provided all group members have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.”
Individual tourists, who have not been allowed to visit Israel since the outset of the coronavirus pandemic there in March 2020 unless they are visiting family members, will still not be allowed to enter outside of a tour group.
Under the new plan, there will be no restrictions on the number of tour groups that Israel will let in, the ministry said, but groups from countries on Israel’s red list – which currently comprises Bulgaria, Brazil, Mexico and Turkey – will not be eligible.
Foreign tourists must show proof they have received a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine within the last six months or a booster shot in order to qualify for entry, also have to show a negative PCR test, take up to 72 hours before arrival, and will undergo a serological test once they land at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.
The ministry said “not one corona case was identified among the groups” that entered after the restrictions were eased in May. It said it hoped individual tourists would be allowed to visit in the near future, “depending on morbidity rates in Israel and around the world”.
