U.S. to grant Israel visa-free travel
The U.S. is admitting Israel into the Visa Waiver Program. Most Israelis will be able to travel visa free to the US for up to 90 days starting Nov. 30. But many Palestinians will not benefit.
The United States will admit Israel into the Visa Waiver Program, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas will announce today. Most Israelis will be able to travel visa-free to the United States for up to 90 days starting Nov. 30, U.S. officials said. But many Palestinians will not be able to benefit from the program.
“Israel's admittance into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) is an important achievement in the 75 year old U.S. Israel partnership,” a senior U.S. administration official, speaking not for attribution, said in a call with reporters Tuesday (Sept. 26). “But to be clear, the decision to admit Israel was taken not as a favor, but because it benefits both U.S. and Israeli interests.
“The steps Israel has taken to qualify for VWP will not only increase U.S. border immigration and counterterrorism security, it will also facilitate legitimate travel and commerce between our countries and our peoples,” the official said. “In Israel's case, the reciprocity requirement was particularly important given a history of disparate travel experiences facing U.S. citizens going to and from Israel.”
U.S. officials said that under a pilot program over the summer, over 100,000 U.S. citizens, including thousands of Palestinian-Americans, were able to travel to Israel visa-free, U.S. official said.
“Since July 20, when Israel initially issued its updated travel guidance, over 100,000 U.S. citizens, including tens of thousands of Palestinian Americans, have successfully entered Israel visa free,” the U.S. administration official said. “This includes, for the first time, all US citizens are now able to fly into Ben Gurion Airport to travel within Israel and/or transit directly to the West Bank. Previously, Palestinian Americans on the Population Registry had to travel to Jordan and then overland to Allenby Bridge in order to enter the West Bank.
“The ability of Palestinian Americans to now fly into Ben Gurion [airport] or to access Israel to other international ports of entry not only saves them significant time and cost, but it acknowledges their status and rights as U.S. citizens,” the official said.
But some Palestinian Americans dispute that Israel legitimately met the eligibility requirements for the program, and say many Palestinians cannot benefit from the program.
“Israel continues to discriminate against Palestinians Americans upon entry, and their published guidelines show several different processes for Palestinian Americans depending on where they are from,” Yousef Munayyer, head of Palestine/Israel at the Arab Center Washington, D.C. told me.
“Americans know that Separate is NOT Equal, and yet the Biden administration seems willing ignore this to rush Israel into the program before the deadline,” Munayyer said. “What's worse is the administration seems to be fully cooperative in hiding this from the public as they refused to publish the text of the Memorandum of Undestanding which outlines the disparate treatment of Americans by Israel that the US accepted.”
A Palestinian living in Ramallah would need to apply for a U.S. visa, at the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, Munayyer said. And he/she would need an Israeli military permit to make it to the interview, he added.
Some analysts also disputed whether Israel would have met the under 3% visa rejection rate requirement for the U.S. program except because of lower travel rates last year during the covid pandemic.
“Israel has sought to be admitted to this program in the past, but has not been eligible for consideration because its US visa refusal rate was higher than the 3 percent required to apply for this program,” the Arab Center Washington, D.C.’s Jonathan Kuttab wrote in an analysis July 10. “Other requirements, especially reciprocity, have also delayed Israel’s admission into the program. In 2022, largely as a result of reduced travel during the corona pandemic, Israel qualified to apply.”
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said yesterday (Sept. 26) that it is filing a federal lawsuit against DHS and State Department over concerns about Israel’s inclusion into the Visa Waiver Program, citing “credible reports and ADC’s own investigations have shown that Israel failed to meet all of the legal requirements for admission.”
The U.S. official acknowledged that the program will not address the disparate treatment of Palestinians.
“Finally, I just want to specify that we know that the improved travel experiences for US citizens entering Israel does not resolve all of the problems related to the disparate treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel,” the U.S. administration official said.
“While Palestinians who are not US citizens fall outside of the Visa Waiver Program, the US government will continue working with Israel through other channels to address ongoing concerns regarding the welfare and freedom of movement of the Palestinian people,” he said. “And that is in keeping with our consistently stated position that Israelis and Palestinians are entitled to equal measures of security, prosperity and freedom.”
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