The mutual recognition of vaccination certificates between Israel and the US might take a long time because of digital requirements from both sides, a government official told The Jerusalem Post a day after Prime Minister Netanyahu said that he expects an agreement on the matter within a few weeks.
“I think Israel is coming out in a remarkable way with the Green Passport before any other country in the world, and we’re going to have mutual exchanges with other countries,” Netanyahu said Tuesday during an interview with the Post’s diplomatic correspondent, Lahav Harkov. “We already have several countries coming here; we’re going to exchange green passports. I think that’s coming. Within a few weeks we’re going to finish inoculating the whole adult population of Israel, and we’ll have reciprocal agreements with the United States.”
A government official explained that the conversation is at a very preliminary stage, and technological issues from both sides might require a long time before a solution is found.
Currently, Israel does not accept any foreign vaccination certificate. In addition, its borders are closed to noncitizens – with very limited exceptions – and only a small number of Israelis are allowed into the country every day.
Citizens and foreigners alike who do manage to arrive from abroad and have been vaccinated or recovered from the virus can take a serological test to confirm the presence of antibodies in their blood and be released from mandatory quarantine.
The eventuality of people forging documents proving that they were vaccinated has been concerning to Israeli health officials both at the domestic and at the international level.
The Green Passport system implemented in the country is considered a high level of security by the authorities.
Earlier this week, a government official told the Post that the nation is in bilateral talks with several countries about mutual recognition of vaccination certificates, but the need to prevent falsification of documents has been one of the challenges, adding that Israel is in a more advanced situation than others.
While US citizens cannot enter Israel, Israelis can travel to the US despite a lack of mutual recognition of the vaccination certificate, provided that in the previous 14 days they have not visited a country on a list that includes most European nations, China and Brazil.
The US does not require those who arrive from abroad to enter isolation.