The European Union has recommended its member states lift traveling restrictions for Israeli tourists.
On Thursday, the EU Council updated the list of eight non-EU countries for which it suggests easing up restrictions to include Israel. The list includes Australia, New Zealand and South Korea among others.
“The EU decision to add Israel to the list of green countries paves the way for a gradual return to normal life after the corona crisis to favor economic growth,” said Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi. “I congratulate the Foreign Ministry envoys in Europe for their excellent work that led to this decision.”
The move comes three days after the European Commission presented member states a proposal to revisit the travel policy and consider the vaccination situation in terms of individual travelers and their country of residence as a whole.
The council’s recommendation does not carry a binding status for individual countries, whose governments ultimately remain responsible for managing their borders.
However, as the Foreign Ministry noted in a statement, it is going to facilitate the decision of member states to reopen “unilaterally or through mutual agreements.”
Indeed, many countries are impatient to revive their devastated tourism industries, and Israel’s success in managing the pandemic combined with the eagerness of its citizens to travel abroad have turned Israelis into attractive visitors.
For this reason, some EU nations including Greece and Cyprus have already opened their borders to Israeli tourists, allowing them to skip quarantine provided they are vaccinated, have recovered, or tested negative for the virus.
Italy is also set to readmit Israeli tourists starting in mid-May, when it is expected to open up its newly launched green pass system to foreign visitors.
The EU is also set to launch its own green pass system, in June.
Israel is scheduled to reopen borders to tourists on May 23, but only for vaccinated or recovered people.
At the moment, the only country whose health documents the government recognizes is Bahrain, but multiple government officials have told The Jerusalem Post that in the next few weeks more agreements are expected to follow.
Visitors coming from countries whose vaccination or recovery certificates are not recognized will be required after arriving in Israel to undertake a serological test to prove the presence of antibodies in their blood, in addition to two PCR tests – one before boarding the plane and one after landing.