Vaccinated tourists and quarantine in Israel – the confusion continues

For many Jews all over the world, this holiday period was supposed to mark the time to return to vacation in Israel. As in the spring and early summer, the country reopened to vaccinated tourist groups and announced it would soon do the same for individuals, many rushed to book flights and hotels. As the Delta variant began to rage and the plan to open the skies was indefinitely postponed, for many the hope proved to be wishful thinking.

The one category of foreign nationals who can still get special permission to visit as tourists are inoculated/recovered first-degree relatives of Israeli citizens. However, as more and more countries were added to the list of nations from which incoming travelers had to quarantine for at least one week, a trip to Israel became more challenging.

When the Health Ministry announced radical changes in their quarantine policy – exempting individuals who have received a booster, who have been jabbed twice or recovered in the last six months, or who have recovered and received one shot from full isolation – many hoped that this would also apply to foreign visitors.

At the moment Israel does not recognize any foreign vaccination or recovery documentation. Non-citizens who want to enter the country have to present their certificates in order to receive the permission required to enter, but once in Israel, if they want to be considered immunized, they need to undergo a private serological test to prove the presence of antibodies in their blood. Once they do, they also receive an Israeli recovery certificate – specifying that the document was released based on serology.

While the first statement about the new quarantine policy released by the ministry did not contain anything to suggest that the exemption from isolation would not apply to individuals holding such certificates based on serology, subsequent versions did require recovery certificates to be based on a PCR test performed in Israel.

The new policy came into effect on Friday, sending flights and vacations abroad for Israelis during the holiday period soaring.

Meantime, no good news came for incoming visitors from abroad, although several health officials – including Coronavirus Commissioner Prof. Salman Zarka – told The Jerusalem Post that the rules would be changed to include individuals vaccinated abroad in the near future.

Then, on Monday, just hours before Rosh Hashana started, a new twist appeared in the plot.

Dov Lipman, a rabbi and activist who recently established the NGO Yad L’Olim to help new immigrants navigate Israeli bureaucracy – first and foremost get their families permission to visit the country – announced that the Health Ministry had changed its policy, allowing also individuals vaccinated abroad to be exempt from isolation based on a serological test.

No change in policy was officially announced.

On Wednesday night, after the end of the holiday, a ministry’s spokesperson denied the report and told the Post that the ministry is still working on the issue – specifically to solve the problem of proving the date of the latest vaccination/recovery, which the serological test cannot show.

Good news for those eager to visit the country – and their families – might come soon. But they will need to wait a little longer, possibly until after the holidays.