This new policy effectively ended an almost-blanket ban on noncitizens’ arrival to Israel.

The decision was taken following a recommendation from health experts who claimed travels curbs are unnecessary since less than 5% of newly confirmed cases in Israel emanated from travel abroad.

Red Countries

The UAE, U.S., Ethiopia, UK, Tanzania, Mexico, Switzerland, and Turkey will remain red countries, effectively banned from travel to Israel. There is no indication of when the government was planning to lift the restrictions on the remaining countries yet. Visitors from these red countries will continue to require advance special permission from an Israeli committee to enter the country.

The Health Ministry has also recommended that South Africa, Nigeria, Spain, Portugal, France, and Canada, currently among 16 countries listed as "red" or high COVID-19 risk, will be changed to "orange". The newly shortened list is subject to approval by the Knesset Health Committee.

Recognized Vaccination

Israel accepts vaccination certificates for Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, or China’s Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccines.

Those vaccinated with Russia’s Sputnik V needed to undergo a serology test, which detects antibodies, to ensure they were protected. It was not immediately clear whether this policy would continue.

Israel’s and Covid–19

The escalation in confirmed cases within Israelis caused the leniency in travel restrictions. Just today, 6,562 new cases were confirmed – about three times the number of confirmed cases compared to last week.