Biden administration says Israelis can travel to the US without a visa

The United States allowed Israel to participate in its visa waiver program after a summer test that allowed American citizens, including Americans Palestinians, to enter Israel without a visa. The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it would allow Israeli citizens to enter the United States without a visa, a step towards improving relations between the two nations at a time when President Biden is engaged in complex diplomacy with Israel on a range of issues.

This decision means that Israel must take reciprocal action toward American citizens, including Palestinian Americans who often have difficulty traveling to Israel. Palestinian territories to see family members and friends.

Administration officials said the Department of Homeland Security had agreed to accept Israel into the U.S. government's visa waiver program after monitoring a pilot effort since July, when the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding. Since July 20, Israel has allowed more than 100,000 U.S. citizens, including tens of thousands of Palestinian Americans, to enter Israel without a visa, officials said.

Any U.S. citizen trying to travel to the West Bank can now fly to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport and travel to the Palestinian territory by land, the officials said. Previously, Israel had forced many Palestinian Americans to travel first to Jordan and then cross to the West Bank via the Allenby Bridge.

Washington is still working on some technical arrangements for Israeli citizens. , who will be able to travel visa-free to the United States by November 30, administration officials said.

“This important achievement will strengthen freedom of movement the United States. citizens, including those who live in or travel to and from the Palestinian territories,” Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said in a joint statement with Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, on Wednesday. /p>

Mr. Mayorkas said Israel's joining the program, a decade in the making, "would strengthen our two countries' collaboration on counterterrorism, law enforcement and our other shared priorities." /p>

Several major groups had opposed allowing Israel to participate in the program until it could commit to treating Americans, including Palestinian Americans, on an equal footing. In a September 8 letter to Mr. Blinken, 15 Democratic senators expressed concerns about the treatment of American travelers in the country based on their ethnicity and religion.

The According to a statement from the Departments of Homeland Security and State, Israel had met the various criteria of the agreement and that the US government had determined, after careful monitoring, that the country had provided sufficient changes “to extend reciprocal privileges to all American citizens without regard to national origin, religion or ethnicity.” Both agencies also noted that Israel met the requirement that the nonimmigrant visitor visa denial rate be less than 3 percent during the previous full fiscal year.

On Tuesday, the US-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee filed a lawsuit in Michigan aimed at blocking the Biden administration from completing the deal. The group said Palestinian Americans who traveled to Israel during the pilot phase of the deal faced discrimination, including when they tried to pass through checkpoints and rent cars.

With the In addition to Israel, the US government now has visa waiver agreements with 41 countries, mainly in Europe and Asia. However, border agents have the authority to turn away anyone at the port of entry.

Administration officials have said the program helps with security as countries are able to share information about travelers more quickly. , including names on the passenger list...