How COVID data finally prevailed over politics in U.S.-Israel travel restrictions battle

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The headlines are unfamiliar and at first glance can feel unsettling:

“Israel tightens restrictions on travelers from United States”

“U.S. adds Israel to highest COVID risk level, urges Americans to avoid travel”

“Israel considers barring travel to the United States over fears of new COVID variants”

It is not surprising that such reports seem out of the ordinary. For the vast majority of the 18-month coronavirus health crisis, the men initially at the helm of the two countries, U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, did everything in their power to avoid taking steps that would lead to such stories.

In particular, Netanyahu’s hesitancy to take steps that might shield Israeli from infected travelers entering from the United States dates from the earliest days of the pandemic.

That reluctance was especially conspicuous because of how it contrasted with his tougher attitude when it came to travel from other countries. Beginning in January 2020, Netanyahu did his best to crack down on the virus being imported to Israel. At an early stage, he forbade any flights from China to land in the country, barred the entrance of non-Israelis from a long list of Asian and European countries, and required any Israelis returning from those countries to complete a full isolation period in specially established quarantine hotels.

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Taking some of the most aggressive steps in the world at the time, Netanyahu dismissed criticism of his aggressive approach, declaring that “a policy of exaggerated concern is the right policy because the health of Israel’s citizens is our top priority.”

But when COVID started to proliferate across the United States as well, he was slower to react. At the time, Health Ministry officials were urging him to impose the same quarantine restrictions on people traveling to Israel from New York, California and Washington – the largest U.S. outbreak locations – as he had on other high-risk locations.

Travelers arriving at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport earlier this week.Tomer Appelbaum

However, instead of moving forward on the recommendations, Netanyahu’s associates reportedly pressured the ministry officials to walk them back.

At a press conference in the first week of March, where everyone was expecting him to announce such steps, or limit travel from the United States in some form, Netanyahu dragged his heels, saying that the government was still meeting and deliberating over their “difficult decision.” So reluctant was the then-premier to single out the U.S. that he ruled out the possibility of any specific country being targeted with further restrictions, saying: “If we decide to expand [the quarantine regulations] any further, they will apply to all destinations.”

That same day, then-Tourism Minister Yariv Levin had been more explicit, explaining on the radio that the U.S. relationship “is especially sensitive, and when we make decisions regarding the United States, it is in coordination and we won’t take any unilateral steps.”

The delay in imposing restrictions on travelers from the United States meant that a large number of Israelis returning from the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington were not being required to self-quarantine, even after it was discovered that three people at the event had been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Netanyahu’s refusal to single out the United States for any travel restrictions, despite his carefully cultivated “tough on COVID” public image, clearly stemmed from his close personal and political alliance with Trump, who at the time was determined to downplay the threat of the pandemic and set an upbeat tone. So while Netanyahu was clamping down, the then-president had been declaring that “one day – it’s like a miracle – [the coronavirus] will disappear.”

In order to avoid incurring Trump’s wrath, restrictions on Israelis returning from the U.S. and Americans entering Israel were only imposed as part of the wider decision to limit those arriving from all overseas destinations.

By contrast, today’s headlines reflect an utterly different dynamic between the new U.S. government led by President Joe Biden and the new Israeli governing coalition headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

New arrivals heading to or exiting the mandatory COVID test after landing at Ben-Gurion Airport, earlier this month. Emil Salman

Most importantly, and unlike Trump’s, Biden’s White House aims to strike a determined and realistic tone when it comes to confronting COVID – though the United States still falls short of imposing the sweeping national restrictive measures that Israel has embraced.

This realism frees Bennett from worrying about a thin-skinned president lashing out over restrictions explicitly aimed at the United States.

That is why Israel felt free earlier this week to add the United States to the list of countries whose travelers are required to quarantine when visiting Israel.

Furthermore, Israel has even considered taking restrictions on U.S. travel a drastic step further: According to a report by Kan public television on Monday, the Health Ministry was debating whether to completely bar travel to the U.S. over fears of powerful new variants.

The Kan report speculated as to whether, as in the past, politics might be playing a role in that decision. Bennett is, after all, hoping to fly to Washington for his first-ever visit to the White House as prime minister in the near future.

But then, on the very same day that report appeared, the U.S. flipped the script.

Israel was slapped with the label of “Level 4: Very High Level of COVID-19” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. citizens were strongly advised against traveling there and were warned that vaccinated travelers to Israel may be at risk of getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.

These mutual warnings and restrictions may feel uncomfortable to those nostalgic for the “no-daylight,” codependent relationship between Netanyahu and Trump. But many will see them as a positive development.

Responsible leaders issue warnings and limitations based on data, not politics. The fact that neither Biden nor Bennett are willing to make these choices shows that even close allies can, and must, prioritize the well-being of their citizens over political posturing or fear of offense.

This change in behavior may take getting used to. But in every way – both literally and figuratively – they represent a far healthier relationship.