Incoming Americans Embark on Israel Excursion, Arrive at Airport Ahead of Omicron-Induced Embargo

Nine Birthright groups, with 160 participants in total, left New York on Sunday, arriving at Ben-Gurion International Airport outside of Tel Aviv on Monday, to participate in the free 10-day tours of Israel that the organization offers to young Jews from abroad. They will be among the last visitors from the United States allowed into Israel before the US is officially designated a “red country,” from which tourists may not enter the Jewish state. The Israeli cabinet on Monday added Belgium, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States to its red-country list in response to the growing threat from the omicron variant; the expanded ban will take effect on Tuesday at midnight. While most incoming tourism from the US was already banned by Israel’s existing COVID-19 restrictions, participants on Birthright tours and other special “Jewish tourism” groups were previously exempt – a point of contention given that Christians wishing to make pilgrimages to the Holy Land for Christmas were barred from coming.