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After the Bennett-Blinken meeting, are Israelis on their way to receiving a visa exemption for the United States? | Israel Today

2021-08-26T11:13:54.541Z


The US State Department issued a statement saying that "the Secretary and the Prime Minister have agreed that it is important to promote the inclusion of Israel in the visa waiver program, in order to facilitate Israelis and Americans" • Ten days ago Ambassador Arden hinted at progress and published a post titled: Visa to the United States "


Are Israel and the United States closer than ever to removing the barriers that will allow Israel to be included in the prestigious club of citizens who do not need a tourist visa issued to the United States?

Following a meeting between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during the night (Wednesday to Thursday), as part of a series of Bennett marathon meetings in the US capital, and a day before the important meeting with President Joe Biden, the State Department said both sides stressed “Our strong bilateral partnership and discussed a number of regional issues, including Iran.

"Linken emphasized that both Palestinians and Israelis deserve the same level of freedom, respect and prosperity, which are important in themselves and also promote the idea of ​​two states."

The statement also said, in what may be an indication of increased moves to include Israel in the US visa waiver program, which is granted to a number of preferred countries around the world: And they are about Americans. "

Bennett and Linken in a meeting in the USA, tonight, Avi Ohayon / GPO

As you may recall, Israel has been trying for some time to join this "club", which includes countries that have less close ties with the United States. That is supposed to be a significant criterion in the conditions of entry into this club, according to American law, and the alleged discrimination that Israel sometimes commits against Americans of Palestinian descent, regarding the security check at the entrance to Israel, was mentioned among the reasons.

The outgoing US Ambassador, Gilad Ardan (who is expected to remain as UN Ambassador), recently posted a post detailing the contacts and expressed optimism that the controversy can be resolved, partly in light of the American lack of familiarity with the Israeli experience and because many young people begin their studies after the army .

The current statement seems to be a direct continuation of these efforts (at least at the declarative level, it seems).

"I believe we will soon see significant progress," Arden wrote in a post at the time.

The US Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mallorks, also tweeted almost two weeks ago that he was determined to "help Israel meet the conditions."

Ultimately, this issue requires the intervention of Blinken, whose State Department is responsible for issuing visas, of Congress, which may set standards and facilitate compliance, if necessary, and of President Biden, whose impact on changing standards can be drastic.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that in order for Israel to be able to join the tourist visa exemption program to enter the United States, the percentage of Israelis who apply for a visa and are refused must be less than three percent.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN Arden on progress on the issue of visa waiver for Israelis

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-08-26

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