Israel doesn’t have much of a choice. The US would have banned El Al if they refused to accommodate US carriers.
Walla and Israel’s Channel 13 report that Israel’s Corona cabinet will approve foreign carriers to operate rescue flights to Israel and Israel will allow up to 2,000 daily passengers to enter the country via rescue flights with special permission.
It’s unclear if Israel will actually give permission to that many people to enter. For now, permission to enter Israel is given in only extreme circumstances. If you do leave the country, you may not be able to enter again anytime soon.
Israel’s Ben Gurion airport has been closed since January 26th and remains officially closed through February 21st. I’d expect that date to be extended again.
HT: yandmk
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19 Comments On "Under Pressure, Israel Will Allow Foreign Carriers To Operate Rescue Flights And Approve 2,000 Incoming Passengers Per Day"
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Without a doubt, they will keep the airport closed until after Pesah. It is already clear that they have their sights on Purim to keep the airport closed. But, I will bet that minimally, they will shoot for the next holiday. The bureaucrats don’t care. They are making money. Look at Globes and see that the public sector jobs are doing well. In addition, there are a lot of Israeli companies that are doing their IPOs now. wherein, the government is cashing in on those as well. At this point, I’d shot for no visitors (non-Israeli citizens) into the country until January 2022.
I think Jan 2022 is a bit much. I’d assume if the virus slows down this summer similar to last year, coupled with hundreds of millions of people vaccinated across the globe, by summer they’ll be allowing vaccinated foreigners to enter. Time will tell…
Mark my words. I live here.
You are probably right on target, especially as we don’t have absentee balloting. I live in a what was a read city (now we are light orange) due to the aggressive amount of vaccinating and closing areas of infestation. The health of our citizens has to be our first responsibility. Anyone who is smart enough to want to come on aliyah can get into the country. Anyone can get vaccinated over the age of 18 and anyone can get tested for the virus and no cost. while I would like to visit grandchildren in other countries I appreciate all the efforts my country is making.
How does Israel benefit financially by not having foreigners (a/k/a tourists) in Israel?
I disagree with your assessment. Without a doubt, the tourism sector (which has been decimated this past year) is a huge part of their economy. I would think they want to keep the lockdown in place to buy themselves more time to vaccinate their population. Likely trying to do so in time so that they CAN open their borders for Pesach to those that can prove they have antibodies or have been vaccinated. If not by Pesach, then very likely by Shavuos. I think your not until January 2022 assertion is way off base.
“The bureaucrats don’t care”, “They are making money”, “the government is cashing in on those”. Those are big words, it sounds as if you’re in the know. Can you elaborate how isolating a country has benefited any country? (please give examples such as Cuba, North Korea etc.)
The rest I read the reports, is that they have agreed to guidelines for reopening the airports. I don’t see exactly that they will implement this prior to October 20th. Is that your understanding?
“Israel’s coronavirus cabinet has approved raising the daily quota of passengers arriving at Ben Gurion airport from 600 to 2,000. However, while the airport is currently closed to all except rescue flights until February 20, the closure is expected to be extended until March 1 at least.”
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-ben-gurion-airport-closure-eased-1001360644
I think they will open after Purim before Pesach
Does anyone know when this will start? February 20 or this week?
It likes like the first direct flights are starting on feb 20 by Elal United and delta
This is all about an attempt to shift power and control back to entrenched bureaucracies. Political class frightened to take them on for fear of being scapegoated for Covid deaths— ala Trump. High tech would probably welcome demise of tourist and small business sectors to shift these workers to their employment pool.
Why would the high tech sector want 60 year old storekeepers?
not everything you see is the deepstate looking for control, though if you want to take on the electric company or the port workers you may be right
Government is about 40% of Israeli economy and a long socialist tradition, only recently challenged. High tech sector requires a lot more than smart engineers and executives. There might even be a place for a displaced 60 year old shopkeeper in a supporting role or in a company supplying goods and services to the high tech sector. Older unemployed shopkeepers will accept lower wages if hungry.
Cancel / refund / change policy ?
Flight aware indicates that Virgin Atlantic operated a flight today from TLV to LHR
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL4421
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=123440.0
Judokas?
Can those with dual citizenship and both Israeli and US Passports, freely travel between NY and TLV?