Israel to ban US tourists who had COVID-19 if they are not vaccinated

Individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 in the last six months and wish to enter Israel under the government’s new tourism outline will not be allowed to unless they have a digital recovery certificate, government officials said on Thursday.

This means that US travelers, who do not have access to such documentation, will not be able to enter Israel. Only recovered patients from the around 40 countries who are participating in the European Union’s digital passport program will be recognized as recovered and meet the criteria for entry. 

This only applies to tourists who have not been vaccinated. American tourists who had COVID but were also vaccinated – either before or after being sick – will be allowed into Israel assuming that the second vaccine was given within the last six months, or if before that, they received the third booster shot. 

The move comes out of concern that travelers could forge positive PCR test results to show negative after thousands of incoming Israeli travelers did so to board planes back to the country. 

The boldest example of this were hundreds of travelers returning from Oman after Rosh Hashanah. They presented negative test results so they could board planes but then tested positive after landing in Israel. 

The outline will still accept paper vaccination certificates, such as the vaccination cards provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although America is working toward digitizing vaccine certificates, digitized recovery certificates do not seem to be on the agenda. 

The new policy holds recovered travelers to a higher standard than even Israelis, whose Green Passes last in perpetuity if they take one shot after recovering – at least for now. Someone with two shots only receives a Green Pass for up to six months. 

Getting more than one shot after having had COVID is not recommended or generally available in any country.

The change in policy has not been publicly announced, so it is likely that many travelers have made plans to enter Israel next month based on the old outline presented by the Prime Minister’s Office last week. 

According to that announcement, which must still be approved by the government, recovered individuals who can prove they tested positive at least 11 and no more than 180 days prior to entering Israel are also eligible to enter. If more than six months have passed and these individuals receive a booster, they could also enter the country.

None of these criteria would apply to recovered patients without digital certificates now – since, as noted, people would have to show that they received two vaccines in the last six months to enter Israel or two older vaccines and a booster shot, if the recovery certificate is not valid.

To gain entry, travelers will have to fill out a Health Ministry declaration form 48 hours before their flight. Part of the form will include entering one’s flight information, the location where the individual will isolate for up to 24 hours and their vaccination or recovery certificate. It is when they fill out this form that unqualified recovered travelers will likely learn they have become ineligible for entry.

YAD L’OLIM, an organization that has been working to help bring relatives of new immigrants into Israel for the past several months, posted about the change in policy on Facebook – and since then, said its founder Dov Lipman, hundreds of messages from concerned travelers have arrived.

“Oh no! This is not good! Does that mean a positive PCR within six months is not sufficient?” asked one traveler. “My husband had coronavirus at the end of August and is not allowed to get the vaccine. He received the monoclonal infusion and had antibodies with a very high number of over 800 – more than a vaccinated person.”

The traveler said her daughter had coronavirus, too. The family has already bought tickers and arranged a visit to see their family members that are studying in Israel. 

“We will continue to work hard to change this unreasonable decision,” Lipman said.

The new outline removes serological or antibody testing for people entering Israel. With serology being phased out, even those who received permission to enter Israel before November 1 but do not meet the criteria after November 1 would likely not make it through the Healthy Ministry declaration form and therefore would not be able to enter. 

When this new program rolls out, the permit system for entering Israel will be obsolete and there will be very few exceptions to the rules.

First-degree relatives of people living in Israel will likely be able to enter the country only for humanitarian reasons, the Health Ministry said. It is not clear whether weddings and births or other monumental occasions will be considered humanitarian.