Israel announced on Sunday that it will allow unvaccinated tourists to enter the country next month. Beginning on March 1st, Israel will open its borders to tourists irrespective of their vaccination status. Other measures, such as PCR tests before and upon arrival, will remain in place.

Israel reopens borders to all tourists

From March 1st, Israel will permit foreign visitors to enter the country for tourism purposes regardless of whether they are vaccinated or unvaccinated. Israel has kept its borders shut to unvaccinated tourists since March 2020.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said,

"We are seeing a steady decline in the morbidity data; therefore, this is the time to gradually open what we were the first in the world to close."

All foreign tourists will still need to take a PCR test pre-departure and upon arrival. This will also entail a 24-hour quarantine period until they have received their test result.

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Pre-departure and arrival PCR tests will still be in place. Photo: Getty Images

However, requirements have been eased for Israeli citizens. Israeli nationals will no longer need to take an antigen test pre-departure, although a PCR test upon arrival is still required. Unvaccinated Israelis also won't have to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival with a negative PCR test result.

Last week, Israel's Health Ministry recommended removing travel restrictions as COVID cases waned. Proposals initially suggested exemptions for unvaccinated travelers under the age of 12 before authorities decided to extend this to people of all ages.

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COVID cases on the decline

Israel's decision to open its borders comes amid a sharp decline in COVID cases over the past few weeks. According to data from Johns Hopkins, Israel has registered 126,762 new cases in the past week, down from a record 617,565 new cases for the week ending January 30th.

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Israel has kept its borders closed to unvaccinated tourists since March 2020. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Prime Minister Bennett added,

"At the moment, the situation in Israel is good. This is the result of correct and dynamic management; therefore, we are now opening up. At the same time, we will continue to closely monitor the situation and in the event of a new variant, we will again act quickly."

Tourism industry hopeful

Israel allowed vaccinated tourists into the country on November 1st, 2021, although the emergence of the Omicron variant led to a temporary shutdown. Before this, the country planned to reopen to individual vaccinated tourists during Summer 2021 but aborted its plans after the spread of the Delta variant.

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Since reopening in November, tourist numbers in Israel have been low. Photo: Getty Images

The Israeli Tourism Ministry estimates that the tourism industry has lost over $7 billion since March 2020 due to travel prohibition. This came off the back of a record year in 2019, which saw 4.55 million tourists visit the country.

Do you plan on visiting Israel soon? Do you think fully reopening borders is the right move? Let us know in the comments.