Bennett: Still no plans to allow vaccinated tourists into Israel

There is still no plan to let vaccinated tourists into Israel, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Thursday during a Facebook briefing in response to a question from The Jerusalem Post.

“The plan will be dependent on the virus,” he said. “If we go out and we vaccinate and the virus is quelled, we can open up to tourists again — with the proper testing and other procedures, such as testing before takeoff and landing and isolation based on the location from which the tourist is traveling. 

“With the way the situation is now, we cannot take the chance and let mass amounts of tourists into Israel,” the prime minister said. 

At the end of the third wave, the previous government made a commitment to allow individual vaccinated tourists into the country on July 1, a move that was pushed off until August 1 and now it seems indefinite.

Small numbers of tourists traveling in approved groups have been entering Israel since the end of May.

The Delta variant has been rapidly spreading across the country. On Wednesday, some 195 people who had entered Israel from abroad within the last 10 days tested positive for the virus.