Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

CDC raises COVID warning for Israel travel to highest level

“Because of the current situation in Israel, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants,” says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The arrivals hall at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport, March 8, 2021. Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90.
The arrivals hall at Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport, March 8, 2021. Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised its COVID-19 travel alert for Israel to its highest level on Monday.

“Avoid travel to Israel, West Bank and Gaza. If you must travel [there], make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel,” the CDC said on its website. “Because of the current situation in Israel, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.”

Due to the uptick in Delta-variant infection rates, Israel on Sunday reinstated a set of renewed coronavirus restrictions, including a return to the full “green pass” requirement for entry into various venues.

Israel is the first country to have begun administering a vaccine booster to its 60-and-over population after most second shots were administered more than six months ago.

A spokesperson for the organization told JNS that the updated report includes “anything that pertains to Zionism and Israel, including the ‘loyalty test’ for its members and declarations that show support or justification for terrorism, and that target Jewish people.”
“No one prosecuted these plaintiffs, fined them or sent them so much as a stern letter,” Mark Goldfeder of the National Jewish Advocacy Center told JNS. “They silenced themselves and then sued over the silence.”
The Anti-Defamation League told JNS that “the letter contains explicit, threatening language targeting Jewish people and relies on vile antisemitic tropes that have historically been used to incite violence.”
A new Quinnipiac University poll found that 51% of respondents view Gov. Josh Shapiro favorably, while 58% said they had not heard enough about state treasurer Stacy Garrity to form an opinion.
The virus is transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes.
CENTCOM shared video of the aircraft being refueled by a KC-135 Stratotanker.