Bennett wears his mask during the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem on Feb 20, 2022. — AFP photo
JERUSALEM (Feb 21): Israel announced Sunday starting from March 1 it will open borders to all tourists, including the unvaccinated, reported Xinhua.
All tourists would be required to undergo two PCR tests, one prior to departure and the other after landing, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said in a joint statement.
For Israeli nationals, the requirement to take an antigen test before boarding the plane was cancelled. Instead, only a PCR test upon arrival will be mandatory.
The unvaccinated Israelis will need no quarantine if they receive a negative result on the PCR test taken at the airport.
“We are seeing a steady decline in the morbidity data,” Bennett said in the statement.
“At the moment, the situation in Israel is good,” he noted, adding that this was “the result of correct and dynamic management”.
Currently, only vaccinated tourists are allowed to enter the country.
Israel restricted the entry of foreign visitors in March 2020 and later eased the restrictions. As cases of the highly infectious Omicron variant were detected in late 2021, the country virtually closed its skies to foreign tourists. — Bernama