Posted on Sep 27, 2023
U.S. allows Israelis visa-free entry as Israel opens travel to Palestinian Americans
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https://www.npr.org/2023/09/27/ [login to see] /israel-us-visa-free-entry
The U.S. said Wednesday it will allow Israeli tourists and businesspeople to enter the country without visas, an agreement that requires Israel to end bans and restrictions on the entry of Palestinian Americans and other Arab Americans.
Starting Nov. 30, Israelis will be able to travel to the U.S. for trips of up to 90 days without needing to wait months for a visa. Forty other countries are already granted the same privilege.
The U.S.-Israel deal represents a significant change in Israel's longstanding security paradigm of profiling and restricting the entry of Palestinian, Arab and Muslim visitors. Those measures were put in place because of airline hijackings 50 years ago, ongoing hostilities against Israel in the region and Israeli efforts to prevent an influx of Palestinians to the Jewish state.
The U.S. said Wednesday it will allow Israeli tourists and businesspeople to enter the country without visas, an agreement that requires Israel to end bans and restrictions on the entry of Palestinian Americans and other Arab Americans.
Starting Nov. 30, Israelis will be able to travel to the U.S. for trips of up to 90 days without needing to wait months for a visa. Forty other countries are already granted the same privilege.
The U.S.-Israel deal represents a significant change in Israel's longstanding security paradigm of profiling and restricting the entry of Palestinian, Arab and Muslim visitors. Those measures were put in place because of airline hijackings 50 years ago, ongoing hostilities against Israel in the region and Israeli efforts to prevent an influx of Palestinians to the Jewish state.
U.S. allows Israelis visa-free entry as Israel opens travel to Palestinian Americans
Posted from npr.org
Palestine
Israel
Travel
Posted 8 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Starting Nov. 30, Israelis will be able to travel to the U.S. for trips of up to 90 days without needing to wait months for a visa. Forty other countries are already granted the same privilege.
The U.S.-Israel deal represents a significant change in Israel's longstanding security paradigm of profiling and restricting the entry of Palestinian, Arab and Muslim visitors. Those measures were put in place because of airline hijackings 50 years ago, ongoing hostilities against Israel in the region and Israeli efforts to prevent an influx of Palestinians to the Jewish state.
The new agreement, negotiated over the last year and a half, overcame old fears in the U.S. that visa-free travel could help Israelis spy on U.S. soil.
It also resolved more recent concerns, like enforcing stricter rules on granting Israeli passports to new immigrants — effectively allowing the visa-waiver program to prevent an influx of Russians into the U.S. who gained Israeli citizenship since the war in Ukraine — and U.S. demands that Israel upgrade to post-Sept. 11 standards of airline security, U.S. officials say.
New freedom of movement for tens of thousands of Palestinian Americans
Under the deal, Israel has agreed to treat U.S. citizens "without regard to national origin, religion, or ethnicity," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Israel already phased in the measures this summer, allowing entry to Americans with origins or dual citizenship in countries like Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Palestinian Americans with residency status in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip may now access Israel's international airport, and U.S. officials say tens of thousands have visited Israel as a result.
"I drove through every single checkpoint between the West Bank and Israel I could," says Mohammed Manasrah, a Palestinian American. "Like, I would literally drive through the checkpoint, make a U-turn and come back. And it just feels like every time I go through a checkpoint, it's like I won."
Four Democratic senators said Wednesday they oppose Israel's admission into the visa-waiver program, arguing Israel still has not addressed all unequal treatment against Palestinian Americans. An Arab American rights group is seeking an injunction against Israel entering the program."
..."Starting Nov. 30, Israelis will be able to travel to the U.S. for trips of up to 90 days without needing to wait months for a visa. Forty other countries are already granted the same privilege.
The U.S.-Israel deal represents a significant change in Israel's longstanding security paradigm of profiling and restricting the entry of Palestinian, Arab and Muslim visitors. Those measures were put in place because of airline hijackings 50 years ago, ongoing hostilities against Israel in the region and Israeli efforts to prevent an influx of Palestinians to the Jewish state.
The new agreement, negotiated over the last year and a half, overcame old fears in the U.S. that visa-free travel could help Israelis spy on U.S. soil.
It also resolved more recent concerns, like enforcing stricter rules on granting Israeli passports to new immigrants — effectively allowing the visa-waiver program to prevent an influx of Russians into the U.S. who gained Israeli citizenship since the war in Ukraine — and U.S. demands that Israel upgrade to post-Sept. 11 standards of airline security, U.S. officials say.
New freedom of movement for tens of thousands of Palestinian Americans
Under the deal, Israel has agreed to treat U.S. citizens "without regard to national origin, religion, or ethnicity," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Israel already phased in the measures this summer, allowing entry to Americans with origins or dual citizenship in countries like Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Palestinian Americans with residency status in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip may now access Israel's international airport, and U.S. officials say tens of thousands have visited Israel as a result.
"I drove through every single checkpoint between the West Bank and Israel I could," says Mohammed Manasrah, a Palestinian American. "Like, I would literally drive through the checkpoint, make a U-turn and come back. And it just feels like every time I go through a checkpoint, it's like I won."
Four Democratic senators said Wednesday they oppose Israel's admission into the visa-waiver program, arguing Israel still has not addressed all unequal treatment against Palestinian Americans. An Arab American rights group is seeking an injunction against Israel entering the program."
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