Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Tourist entry into Israel doubles since last year, but still well below pre-pandemic numbers

The Israeli Tourism Ministry says it’s working on a plan to allow individual vaccinated visitors to enter the country starting next month.

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 number of tourists entering Israel last month was more than double that of September 2020 and around half of that in the same month in 2019, the Israel’s Tourism Ministry reported on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, there were 34,500 tourist entries in Sept. 2021, constituting a 128 percent increase as compared with Sept. 2020 and a 91.5 percent decrease from Sept. the previous year, prior to the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The government is working on a plan to allow individual vaccinated tourists to visit Israel from the beginning of November, the ministry said, in order to rehabilitate the tourism industry and ensure that the hundreds of thousands of people working in it can earn a living. As of now, only groups of vaccinated tourists—and individuals who receive special permission—have been allowed to enter the country.

The ministry did not specify conditions for considering visitors “fully vaccinated,” such as the need to have received a booster shot or a requirement of quarantine upon arrival.

“We will terminate every diversity, equity and inclusion program across the entire federal government,” the U.S. president stated.
Matti Leshem, the show’s Jewish creator, told JNS that the Israeli actor playing Jesus “seems like he’d be at home in first-century Judea.”
Baseball fans can find certified kosher food at 13 MLB stadium locations this season, though stands remain closed on Shabbat and Jewish holidays and do not offer Passover items.
“The events of Oct. 7 underscored the ongoing and evolving nature of the global terrorist threat,” the senators wrote to senior U.S. law enforcement officials.
The measure excludes funding for immigration enforcement and faces potential delays in the House.
“Periods of heightened conflict abroad too often coincide with increased fear, discrimination, and violence at home, putting both Jewish and Muslim Americans at risk,” the groups said.