Coalition Demise Could Delay Planned Visa-Free Entry For Israelis – US Official

As the government moves ahead with plans to dissolve the Knesset, a senior US embassy official warned that the development could delay efforts to add Israel to a list of countries whose citizens don’t need a visa to enter the United States.

Israel has been attempting to join the US Visa Waiver Program for years, but has yet to meet the arrangement’s minimum requirements. In the past, governments have lobbied Congress for an exemption from these global criteria, but the newest push has seen Israel move toward passing legislation that would instead help it address the American issues.

“That will be up to the Knesset,” the US official told The Times of Israel by phone. “There are some pieces of legislation that are in the Knesset that are in various stages of being introduced or being read, and it’ll be up to the caretaker government [which will be in charge after the Knesset is disbanded] to determine whether those pieces of legislation are enough of national interest to continue to advance, or if they need to wait for the fall.”

One of the steps needed to ensure entry into the VWP is the passing of legislation granting the US limited access to the participating country’s criminal records — a measure that will be unlikely to be approved once the Knesset disperses itself for an election campaign.

On Monday evening, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced his plans to call for the dissolution of the Knesset, which will send the country back to elections for the fifth time in less than four years.

Important steps have been made in the visa-exemption process during Bennett’s short tenure.

“In the last 6 or 7 months, Israel has made more progress on getting into the Visa Waiver than they have in previous umpteen years they’ve been talking about it,” said the official. “The current government has taken a lot of strides forward answering the requirements of Homeland Security which really runs Visa Waiver Program.”

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides have in the past expressed hope that Israel would be able to join the VWP by the end of the year or by early 2023, but that is now looking far less likely.