Israel will ease travel restrictions from January 9, 2022 – Great news for travel photographers!
Update [January 15, 2022]: Israel Photography Tour announces that travel photographers will be delighted to hear that Israel has recently relaxed restrictions to enter it’s borders. Starting from January 9, 2022, all vaccinated and recovered travellers from all countries, with the exception of unvaccinated children will be allowed to enter the country. These are uncertain times we are living in, including the ever-changing rules on international travel due to the Coronavirus. With the exception of a brief window in November, 2021, Israel was mostly closed to foreigners entering the country since the start of the pandemic. But that seems to have changed now since the emergence of the Omicron variant. Due to a higher transmission rate but lower cases of hospitalisation, the Ministry of Tourism has declared the country open.
For information on everything to do with international travel rules to and from Israel, we recommend visiting the government website for up to date information: israelsafe.com
Update [November 1, 2021]: Starting from November 1, 2021, travel photographer’s are now able to visit Israel as individual tourists, thanks to an ease in travel restrictions due to a strong national vaccination drive and a drop in Coronavirus infection rates. Following our blog post dated June 14, 2021, where the Health Ministry began opening Israel up to tourism by allowing entry to group tours, individual travellers can now visit Israel – great news for photographers that often travel alone due to the nature of their hobby.
Under the new regulations, only tourists who have been vaccinated during the 180 days before they boarded the plane will be allowed to enter Israel. In the case of the Pfizer vaccine, seven days must elapse between the traveler’s second or third shot and entry to Israel. In the case of Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson (one dose, not two), Sinovac and Sinopharm, 14 days must elapse. Under both the current and the new regulations, all travelers to Israel must take a PCR test within 72 hours of their departure and must take a second test when they land at Ben Gurion Airport. Vaccinated travelers must remain in quarantine either for 24 hours or until they receive a negative test result. Those who aren’t vaccinated must remain in quarantine for 14 days, which can be shortened to seven days with two negative tests, on days 1 and 7.
For information on current health regulations, we recommend visiting this page from The Jerusalem Post.
We very much look forward to reuniting with old friends and knowing new ones.
Laurie