Government ministers Nachman Shai and Pnina Tamano Shata have said they are working to expand the entry permit criteria for relatives of Israelis living abroad and other Jews to enter Israeli during the ongoing pandemic.
Both ministers also acknowledged the problems that foreign relatives of immigrants and other Israelis have experienced in getting entry permits to visit their parents, siblings and children due to corona restrictions.
Israel’s borders are still shut to most travelers and tourists due to concerns about importing the corona infection, but the first-degree foreign-national relatives of Israeli citizens and residents are able to request entry permits to enter the country through the Population and Immigration Authority of the Interior Ministry, or through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Hundreds if not thousands of people have experienced difficulties in obtaining the permits, with many having to cancel or rearrange flights, while others have applications denied despite meeting the criteria.
Aliyah and Absorption Minister Tamano-Shata said she is working to expand the criteria for those eligible to enter to include third-degree relatives such as grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.
She said that she has also asked Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and the head of the Consular Department of the Foreign Ministry to increase the number of staff at Israeli consulates and to expedite the issuance of entry permits.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai noted that he, too, is working on changing the criteria, so that Jews in the Diaspora who do not have first-degree relatives in the country can enter for humanitarian or other exceptional reasons.
Tamano-Shata was instrumental earlier this year in having the criteria for entry to the country changed so that first-degree family members of Israeli citizens could enter the country after a hermetic lockdown of the country’s borders from January to May.
The minister and her office have also assisted numerous applicants obtain their permits.
“The minister will work vigorously, as far as possible in accordance with the state of public health and the [COVID-19] infection rate, to allow new immigrants to reunite and meet with their relatives,” said Tamano-Shata.
She insisted, however, that the entry of foreign-nationals into the country is under the authority of the Population and Immigration Authority, which is under the Interior Ministry.
Shai said the Diaspora Affairs Ministry was aware of the problems faced by immigrants and their relatives, and the “complex reality” of dealing with these challenges.
“There is a phenomenon in which the first-degree relatives [of Israeli citizens] who want to come to the country, and are eligible to do so according to the policies of the Interior Ministry, are not succeeding in getting entry permits due to technical reasons and the high number of requests,” said Shai. “After more than a year in which Israeli citizens and their families from the Diaspora could not meet due to constraints of the coronavirus pandemic, they are now being prevented from doing so due to technical and bureaucratic constraints, and we understand the great frustration over this.”
Shai’s office added that his staff is also frequently involved in assisting applicants who need help ensuring their applications are processed and approved.
The minister said however that “it is important to point out that the Population Authority is working around the clock to give the best possible response to the high number of [entry permit] requests.”