Israel Finally Opening Up to Tourists!

But Don't Pack Your Bags Just Yet...

One of the most difficult things about this nearly two-year global lockdown has been that we have not been able to lead tours here in Israel. For Elana and me, it is one of our greatest joys to watch people during one of our eight- or nine-day tours grow in their faith, build relationships, laugh, cry and eat the best food in the world. So, we are super excited to hear that Israel is finally going to let tourists return starting on November 1st.

Things were looking really good at the beginning of the summer when Israel's corona caseload was down to five to 10 cases a day. And then came the Delta strain. We were up to 11,000 cases a day just over a month ago. But with the roll-out of a booster shot, cases are back down to a manageable place. And Israel is opening up!

Now before you get your hopes up, there will be restrictions. And for that reason, until we can actually see what a tour looks like, we are not going to plan one. In other words, I don't want to see our tour group hermetically sealed off from the Israeli people. What makes our tours unique is that we connect with believers all throughout the land. So we're going to wait just a bit before we start planning. It is this paragraph from the guidelines below that is giving us pause:

The group functions in Israel like a ״capsule״, meaning they are only in contact with the people in their group - these groups will not have leisure time, and their movement will be restricted in areas in which there is an increased risk of infection.

Below are the guidelines posted by All Israel News, and I'm sure these guidelines will constantly change over the next few months as everything else has for the last two years.

The following persons are eligible to enter Israel in the framework of the plan:

Foreign nationals who have been inoculated with two doses of the Pfizer vaccine at least seven days prior to their day of entry into Israel (7 days must have passed since their second dose upon their arrival into Israel, but no more than 180 days upon their leaving Israel).

Foreign nationals who have been inoculated with two doses of the Moderna vaccine at least 14 days prior to their day of entry into Israel (14 days must have passed since their second dose upon their arrival into Israel, but no more than 180 days upon their leaving Israel).

Foreign nationals who have been inoculated with one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least 14 days prior to their day of entry into Israel (14 days must have passed since their second dose upon their arrival into Israel, but no more than 180 days upon their leaving Israel).

Foreign nationals who have been inoculated with the Pfizer booster and at least seven days have passed, on the day of their entering Israel. Foreign nationals who have been inoculated with the Moderna, Sinovac Astra Zeneca and Johnson & Johnson booster and at least 14 days have passed, on the day of their entering Israel.

Foreign nationals who have recovered from COVID-19 and who present proof of the results of a positive NAAT test at least 11 days prior to their day of entry into Israel (11 days must have passed since their NAAT test upon their arrival into Israel, but no more than 180 days upon their leaving Israel).

Foreign nationals who have recovered from COVID-19 and have received at least one dose of the WHO-approved vaccines.

Groups that will be exempted from quarantine on the basis of their functioning like a capsule that stays together within their own group:

Tourists who have been inoculated with a WHO-approved vaccine.

The group functions in Israel like a ״capsule״, meaning they are only in contact with the people in their group - these groups will not have leisure time and their movement will be restricted in areas in which there is an increased risk of infection. Up to 2,000 tourists in a capsule per day (a more stringent plan will apply to mixed groups).

Either a daily antigen test or a PCR test every two days must be administered for 14 days from the day of entry into Israel.

Tourists who have not been in red countries or countries under severe travel warnings in the 14 days prior to entering Israel.

These groups are not required to undergo serological tests.