U.S. Envoy Insists Doors Open to Israelis
Image by getty images
The U.S. State Department is working to make tourist visas available for as many Israelis as possible, especially young people, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said.
“Although two-thirds of young Israeli applicants receive visas, some people have a misconception that young Israelis are not welcome in the United States,” Shapiro wrote Sunday on his Facebook page.
“This is certainly not the case. Israel is one of our closest allies, and we welcome all opportunities to foster ties between Israelis and Americans, including visits to the United States,” he wrote
Shapiro said placing Israel in the visa waiver program is a goal shared by both countries.
Permitting Israel into the visa waiver program would exempt Israeli citizens from having to obtain a tourist visa; it would allow them to stay in the United States for up to 90 days.
The United States and Israel have created a working group to help Israel advance toward joining the visa waiver program.
Two major obstacles have kept Israel from joining the program: Allegations by U.S. officials that Israel has discriminated against Arab- and Muslim-Americans seeking entry, and a proliferation of young Israelis traveling to the United States as tourists and then working illegally.
Haaretz reported Tuesday that Israel is willing to treat Palestinian-Americans wishing to enter Israel the same as it treats other Americans if Israel is allowed to join the visa waiver program. The newspaper cited an unnamed senior Israeli official.
The maximum visa rejection rate for entry into the program is 3 percent, and Israel’s is at 9.7 percent, spiking up from a 6 percent average in recent years.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
