The Ministry of Tourism announced this week that Israel is expected to open to foreign tourists at the beginning of next month after a year and a half during which tourists could not enter the country.
The decision hardly encounters objections, most pro-government ministers and also the Ministry of Health tend to allow the entry of vaccinated tourists.
Despite the good intentions and desire to allow foreign tourists to come to Israel, in recent days government ministries involved in the issue have encountered some unresolved issues that are unlikely to be resolved in the short time left until the set goal - early November, or even late October, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked noted. If the morbidity rate in Israel continues to decline.
The first problem is the matter of vaccines.
There are countries with which the State of Israel has good relations, but it is likely that most of its citizens will not be able to enter the country at all.
Those vaccinated with the Russian vaccine, the most common vaccine currently not yet approved by the World Health Organization, are currently experiencing a problem due to non-recognition of that vaccine.
However, the approval of the Sputnik vaccine is expected in the coming weeks, so that if it is approved, it will be possible to allow entry for those who have been vaccinated with the same vaccine.
Vaccine complex for the Russian vaccine in Moscow, Photo: API
Among the countries where the Sputnik vaccine is given: Argentina, Albania, Russia, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Bosnia, Egypt, Hungary, India, Jordan, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, the Philippines, Serbia, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates And other countries.
At the moment, Israel adheres to the decisions of the World Health Organization and tends to allow vaccinated people with vaccines approved only by the World Health Organization to enter Israel, which will leave many vaccinated in many countries, without the possibility of entering Israel.
Another and no less big problem that the Ministry of Tourism is currently trying to deal with is forgeries.
In many countries, including countries that have been vaccinated with approved vaccines, vaccination certificates can be easily counterfeited.
In a large number of countries, vaccination certificates are merely a doctor's signature on a page, one that anyone who wants to can easily forge.
Therefore, in Israel, there are fears that tourists will be able to enter the country and there will be no way to check whether this is an official permit, when in practice those tourists were not vaccinated at all.
Scan the green character.
In some countries there is no similar mechanism, Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
Recently, Israel's mutual recognition agreement with the EU countries came into force, along with other countries, including Turkey, Morocco, Switzerland and other countries. Under the agreement, the mutual recognition will allow tourists from all countries to present vaccinated certificates alongside a barcode that can be easily scanned and verified the vaccinated certificate. However, there are many countries whose documentation is different and does not include digital means that could allow the Israeli authorities to verify the credibility of the vaccinated certificate. It is important to emphasize that the government ministries involved are working these days to implement mechanisms that are supposed to prevent forgeries.
In the first phase, Israel intends to allow only those who have been vaccinated with a second dose in the last six months or those who have been vaccinated with a third dose to enter the country, and here too, this is another barrier that will restrict many tourists entering Israel.
In most countries of the world have not yet started vaccinating in the third dose and even in those that do, these are low numbers at this stage.
In most countries with the potential for tourism to Israel, many vaccinated people received the second dose more than six months ago, which means that even if their vaccine is approved and verifiable, they will still not be able to enter the country.