In historic move, Israel accepted into U.S. Visa waiver program
After decades of setbacks, U.S. officials say they anticipate Israelis to be able to travel to the United States without visas by the end of November
Passengers in the departure hall at Ben-Gurion Airport in 2023. Photo by Moti Milrod/Haaretz
This article originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. Sign up here to get Haaretz’s free Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Israel has gained entry into the coveted U.S. Visa Waiver Program, U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday, ending a decades-long effort aimed at allowing Israelis to travel to the United States for 90 days without having to undertake the time-consuming and expensive process of obtaining a visa.
The officials said they anticipate that Israelis will be able to travel to the United States visa-free by November 30.
The final decision came hours after an Arab-American civil rights organization, alongside several Palestinian-American citizens, sued the U.S. government for allegedly endorsing discrimination against Palestinian and Arab Americans.
The official said this was “not the end of the process, but rather the start of a close and continuing collaboration based on maintaining all Visa Waiver Program requirements.”
The U.S. Embassy to Israel’s chargé d’affaires, Stephanie Hallett, said the step was “another reflection of the strength of our relationship.” She noted that Israel is the 41st member of the program and thanked Israeli officials in the current and previous government.
“We are grateful to the many Israeli officials who worked closely with us to make it possible, particularly Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi,” said Hallett. “This is the result of a process of more than two years that began under former prime ministers [Naftali] Bennett and [Yair] Lapid.”
Lauding the program as a security partnership that both facilitates commerce and strengthens people-to-people ties, U.S. officials said it also benefits U.S. citizens residing in the West Bank and Gaza.
“More Americans now have easier access to Israel due to the recent change in long-standing Israeli policy and practices that barred or restricted access to certain U.S. citizen dual nationals, and often subjected U.S. citizens of Palestinian or Arab heritage or Muslim faith to significant difficulties and unequal treatment,” an official said.
A second U.S. official indirectly addressed criticism that Israel’s entry was motivated by politics, noting: “The decision to admit Israel was taken not as a favor, but because it benefits both U.S. and Israeli interests.”
The decision to grant Israel entry was not based on pledges in the July memorandum of understanding, they noted, “but also on Israel’s demonstrated implementation of these commitments during an observation period.”
“In assessing Israel’s compliance with the reciprocity requirement, we were able to rely not only on data provided by the government of Israel, but also on site visits by U.S. officials and information gleaned from an online reporting portal that we set up for that particular purpose,” the official added.
Hallett told journalists: “The embassy wants to remind all Israelis that the designation today does not mean that Israeli citizens without visas can fly now to the United States. Israelis will need to submit an application through ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization). ESTA applications are valid for two years and multiple trips. Israelis can only use ESTA if they have a biometric passport valid for 10 years.”
She addressed one of the concerns raised by critics of the program: the fact that Palestinians with U.S. passports cannot enter Israel by car. “About Palestinian Americans driving into Israel from the West Bank – this is a very important issue for the U.S. government,” she said. “We are committed to solving it and have established a working group with Israel to identify a solution.
“Entry into the program is not the end of the process, but rather the start of a close cooperation,” she continued. “For every country, we continuously monitor implementation of the program requirements, and we will continue to do that with Israel. There are mechanisms for suspension and termination of any program country in the world if it does not continue to adhere to the program requirements.”
Critics of U.S. tactics during the past several months charge that U.S. officials created a pilot program outside normal Visa Waiver Program practice, demonstrating a rigged process from the beginning. However, U.S. officials counter that “program countries are comprehensively assessed every two years to ensure they continue to meet all these requirements.”
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