US Refuses to Include Israel in 'Visa Waiver Program'
World
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat
The US Department of Homeland Security informed Israel that it has failed to meet the requirements to enter the visa waiver program. Earlier, the Israeli government informed its citizens that it had reached the final arrangements to obtain an official US decision to cancel the entry visa. On Wednesday, Haaretz reported that the matter remained confidential until the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Land Security, Alice Lugo, announced it in a letter sent last month to the Democratic Representative, Don Beyer. In the letter to Beyer, Lugo stressed that "Israel does not currently meet all [visa waiver program] designation requirements, including extending reciprocal visa-free travel privileges to all US citizens and nationals." In response, Beyer sent a letter to members of the US House of Representatives, calling on them to support pressuring Israel to withdraw the new "discriminatory restrictions" imposed by the Israeli military for entry into the West Bank to assure reciprocity for all US citizens. Beyer prepared a petition for which he collects signatures from other US representatives, which will be directed to the several US and Israeli agencies. In the petition, the representatives put forward a request to open a hotline to publish monthly reports for future visa waiver program evaluations. He sent a letter to the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, saying that it is clear that "Israel cannot and should not be admitted into the visa waiver program under the status quo." "It is incumbent upon Israel as a key US ally and beneficiary of significant aid to treat US citizens with dignity and respect regardless of race, religion, and ethnicity, and it is especially pertinent at this time because Israel is currently being evaluated for entry into the United States Visa Waiver Program," said Beyer. He highlighted the "onerous and discriminatory" new restrictions issued by the Israeli army's Coordinating Office for Government Affairs in the Territories. The Representative added that Israel "consistently refused to extend fair treatment to US visitors attempting to travel through Israeli controlled entry points," despite the visa waiver program's prerequisite of reciprocity. "The State Department itself acknowledges in its travel advisory that US citizens traveling to Israel have been unfairly denied entry." It is known that Israel has been in deliberations with the US authorities for several years to include it in the visa waiver program, which would allow Israelis to stay in the United States for 90 days for tourism or business, and would be a catalyst for economic cooperation. Diplomatic sources in Tel Aviv noted that the only clause restricting the exemption is the "reciprocity" clause that obligates Israel to treat all US citizens equally upon their entry to Israel. They indicated that travelers who are not white and Jewish have long complained about racial profiling at Ben Gurion Airport. Palestinians with US citizenship, meanwhile, travel via the Allenby Bridge crossing with Jordan. In response to Israeli journalists, the US embassy spokesman said Israel "must extend reciprocal privileges to all US citizens and nationals, including Palestinian-Americans, as those the United States would extend to Israeli citizens." "We seek equal treatment and freedom to travel for all such US travelers to Israel regardless of national origin or ethnicity."
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3941251/us-refuses-include-israel-visa-waiver-program
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