“The fifth wave has begun,” Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced in a nationally televised address Sunday night, referring to the spread of the omicron COVID-19 variant. Hours later, the Israeli government approved placing the United States on the list of “red” countries and imposing a travel ban, beginning at midnight on Tuesday. Bennett defended his decision last month to bar foreign nationals from entering Israel shortly after the discovery of omicron, saying that it “was an important and brave decision that bought all of us precious time.” He continued that: “Our goal is to overcome this wave while continuing economic activity and education as much as we can. The way is to delay the rate of spread as much as possible and use the time we are buying to vaccinate the children of Israel as quickly as possible.” Bennett noted that there is a public “fatigue” regarding following coronavirus regulations, which he called “understandable and natural.” The other countries added Monday to the list of red countries include Italy, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland and Turkey. Other countries already appearing on the red list include: the United Kingdom, Denmark, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Finland, France, Sweden and several African nations. Under the current coronavirus restrictions, Israelis are not permitted to travel to red countries; Israelis returning from red countries will require quarantine for at least one week. The US State Department one month ago issued a travel advisory calling on US citizens to reconsider travel to Israel due to COVID-19, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for Israel, indicating a high level of COVID-19 in the country.
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