Israel to Allow in All Tourists Regardless of COVID Vaccination Status

Tourists walk at the Ben Gurion International Airport after entering Israel by plane, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions ease, in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel, May 27, 2021. (Reuters)
Tourists walk at the Ben Gurion International Airport after entering Israel by plane, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions ease, in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel, May 27, 2021. (Reuters)
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Israel to Allow in All Tourists Regardless of COVID Vaccination Status

Tourists walk at the Ben Gurion International Airport after entering Israel by plane, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions ease, in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel, May 27, 2021. (Reuters)
Tourists walk at the Ben Gurion International Airport after entering Israel by plane, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions ease, in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel, May 27, 2021. (Reuters)

Israel will begin allowing entry to all tourists, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, from March 1, a statement from the prime minister's office said on Sunday.

Entry into Israel will still require two PCR tests, one before flying in and one upon landing in Israel, the statement said.

Currently only COVID-19 vaccinated foreigners are allowed into Israel.

"We are seeing a consistent decline in morbidity numbers, so this is the time to gradually open up what we were the first in the world to close," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said.

Israel first shut its borders to foreigners in March 2020. The number of visitors has slowly risen as the country lifted some restrictions, but they remain well below pre-pandemic levels.

Some 46,000 tourists entered Israel last month, up from 7,800 a year earlier but way lower than the 333,000 that visited in January 2020.

"At the same time, we will keep a finger on the pulse, and in case of a new variant we will react quickly," Bennett said.



Iran Denies Any Meeting with US Next Week, Foreign Minister Says

 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. (Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via Reuters)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. (Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via Reuters)
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Iran Denies Any Meeting with US Next Week, Foreign Minister Says

 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. (Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via Reuters)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. (Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via Reuters)

Iran currently has no plan to meet with the United States, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday in an interview on state TV, contradicting US President Donald Trump's statement that Washington planned to have talks with Iran next week.

The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran was assessing whether talks with the US were in its interest, following five previous rounds of negotiations that were cut short by Israel and the US attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The US and Israel said the strikes were meant to curb Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons, while Iran says its nuclear program is solely geared toward civilian use.

Araqchi said the damages to nuclear sites “were not little” and that relevant authorities were figuring out the new realities of Iran’s nuclear program, which he said would inform Iran’s future diplomatic stance.