For those hoping to come to Israel over the summer

Elfrida

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 2:37 am

For those hoping to be able to come to Israel over the summer or for the chagim, this is the first indication of what the entry criteria will be from July.

https://m.jpost.com/health-sci.....71104

According to this model, anyone who is vaccinated and comes from a white list of low risk countries will be able to come in with just a PCR test, and no need for a serological test as well. They haven't published the list, or what the criteria will be yet.

They are talking about entry only for vaccinated people, specifying not for those who have recovered - which will effectively rule out young children. Acceptable vaccines include all vaccines developed in Western countries, so that excludes the Chinese and probably the Russian vaccines.

It's a new government, and anything can change, and they want to revive to tourist economy, but this seems to be the current plan. There may be new options in place by the chagim.

amother

Currant

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 5:59 am

Thanks for sharing. I know a few families with young kids who have booked tickets to travel from the US to Israel for the chagim. I suppose they are sure it will all work out.

Elfrida

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 6:09 am

These guidelines aren't final, and anything could change by the chagim anyway. Tourism will be limited until families are allowed to come, and they really want the money from tourism.

On the other hand, our corona levels are very low, and they don't want to jeopardize that and risk even a partial shut down again. About half of our new diagnoses are people coming from abroad. I don't think there is any perfect decision, and I'm glad I'm not formulating the policies.

amother

Currant

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 6:22 am

Yes, we've worked hard to keep numbers low, and as much as I understand the tourists who want to visit (and the business owners who rely on tourism) I would hate to go back into lockdown just so non-citizens can have their vacations.

amother

Lightcyan

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 6:33 am

It’s still a problem because any family with young kids will not be able to go. No one is going on such a trip and leaving their small children at home.
Yes, it will open the country up for some adults but families (with young kids)are still not allowed in.

DrMom

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 7:09 am

amother [ Lightcyan ] wrote:

It's not perfect, but it seems to be what we can do at the moment.

amother

Cerulean

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 7:16 am

My ds 14 was supposed to go last year for his bar mitzvah trip. We very much want him to go this summer. He and dh are both vaccinated and can get an excelsior pass from NY state which is a pretty official and verifiable vaccine passport.
Wondering if I should book tickets now for August, Elal tickets are about 900 round-trip now, or wait and see a bit more.

amother

Lightcyan

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 7:44 am

amother [ Cerulean ] wrote:

I think you should book. If requirements change you can always cancel. You would have a year to use those tickets. (I don’t think they refund if you cancel but they will allow you to re book within the year).

Raisin

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:03 am

Elfrida wrote:

Probably Israelis coming on vacation and returning. Or expat Israelis going back to Israel to visit. Meanwhile if you are having a new grandchild in Israel and you are not Israeli, you have to jump through several fiery hoops and wade through tons of red tape to get permission to visit. Mad

amother

Papaya

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:29 am

amother [ Currant ] wrote:

But you don't seem to really understand. Sad

The point in reopening to tourists is not so that people can have nice vacations. It's to save the tourism industry, which is a major employer in Israel and has been pretty much dead since March 2020. Those workers are also citizens. Is their right to earn a living less than yours?

amother

Currant

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:33 am

amother [ Papaya ] wrote:

But you don't seem to really understand. Sad

I can understand and still feel like we should proceed slowly. Because a full-blown lockdown is bad for most sectors of the economy, as well as the mental health of many citizens.

In any case, the decision is not in my hands. Let's see what happens and hope for the best.

Elfrida

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:47 am

amother [ Papaya ] wrote:

But you don't seem to really understand. Sad

If cases went up and we had to have another shut down - even a partial one - the tourism industry would be the first to suffer. That's why they are also aware of the need to be cautious.

DrMom

Wed, Jun 16 2021, 8:57 am

amother [ Papaya ] wrote:

But you don't seem to really understand. Sad

I understand just fine. A lockdown will harm ALL sectors of the economy, tourism included. I support a cautious and data-driven approach.

BTW, 90 schoolchildren in Modiin are now in isolation because someone who came from abroad tested positive and did not quarantine properly.

amother

Caramel

Sun, Jun 20 2021, 5:50 am

amother [ Papaya ] wrote:

But you don't seem to really understand. Sad

I most certainly do understand.

But right now the tourism industry is the only one still suffering. If our numbers go back up, everyone will suffer - income, mental health, children, everyone.

Right now it is just one industry, and employees can try to pivot, at least somewhat. It hurts but it is what it is. Opening back up irresponsibly - especially now that we are seeing dozens of new cases each day due to people who returned from abroad - is a bad idea for the entire country.

We will have to keep our borders closed if we want to keep out corona and preserve our return to normalcy. It hurts but it is the lesser of the two evils.

And btw, if everyone else has their jobs back, we could all use a vacation within Israel, providing income to the tourism industry.

Elfrida

Sun, Jun 20 2021, 7:24 am

amother [ Caramel ] wrote:

And btw, if everyone else has their jobs back, we could all use a vacation within Israel, providing income to the tourism industry.

It's more complex than that, because Israelis don't spend the way foreign tourists do. The other day I was speaking to someone who owns three tourist shops in the Old City. Israelis come to Jerusalem, and some in them stay in hotels, but they aren't buying tourist junk the way people coming from chutz l'aretz do. We're seeing internal tourist groups around the Old City on a daily basis, but his shops are not seeing anything approaching their normal level of custom.

But internal tourism and staying safe is still a better option than letting everyone in freely and seeing soaring figures again.

amother

Caramel

Sun, Jun 20 2021, 8:32 am

Elfrida wrote:

For sure it's not the same. It's not nearly the same amount of parnassa. But something is better than nothing, and nothing is what the tourism industry and the rest of the country will have if we are not careful.

amother

Caramel

Sun, Jun 20 2021, 8:51 am

amother [ DarkGreen ] wrote:

Why is Israel so scared about Corona spreading if most of the country is vaccinated?

Not everyone can be vaccinated; not everyone is vaccinated (Israel has a relatively high percentage of children under 12, and over 12 they have just started vaccinating).

Bringing in more variants offers opportunity to develop an Israeli-grown vaccine-resistant variant which could send us all back to the dark ages where the rest of the world is.

There are still pockets of anti-vaxxers where outbreaks can develop and spread, creating a burden on the healthcare system and risking additional and unknown variants.

We care about our vulnerable - those who are immunocompromised or cannot be vaccinated.

And the bottom line is, we have worked too hard for far too long, and sacrificed far too much, to get to where we are today, for us to throw it in the trash because a couple of unvaccinated arrivals can't be bothered to keep the rules.

Elfrida

Sun, Jun 20 2021, 8:51 am

amother [ DarkGreen ] wrote:

Why is Israel so scared about Corona spreading if most of the country is vaccinated?

Do we really have to go through this again?

Children under the age of twelve aren't vaccinated, and we don't want it running through the schools.
Those same children can spread it to immunosuppressed people for whom the vaccine is less effective.
The new variants may be to some extent vaccine resistant, and we don't want to have to start with masks and lockdowns again.

Ok?