Sar-El Tours Travel Update

As Israel is gearing up to open its borders for international visitors and groups, your Sar-El team is now generating ongoing reports highlighting the various entrance rules and regulations which are presently in discussion between the various governmental agencies. With unofficial and unreliable information floating across the internet, our commitment is to provide you credible and reliable information, as it becomes available to us, so that you can plan ahead wisely.

The good news is that with negligible morbidity and vanishing Covid related issues inside Israel, the country is fully open for business and has largely returned to normal life. The concern of the health authorities now is mostly related to variants being “imported” into the country by visitors from other nations, and therefore a regulatory system is being considered these very days to monitor and supervise all entrees for a trial period.

With consultations between government agencies still ongoing, the situation is very fluid and no final protocols have been formalized yet.  What we can share with you with confidence at this point is as follows:

A. A limited number of pre-approved groups not requiring a quarantine period will be allowed entrance starting in late May 2021 as part of a trial period. This is a projected starting point that may yet be delayed.

B. Pending the results of this trial period, a larger number of groups will be allowed in as we move into the summer months.

C. A quota of a maximum number of visitors will be established by the health authorities, and all groups will have to be pre-submitted (through your Sar-El operator) and pre-approved by the relative agencies.

D. At this point (this is not final), all visitors will have to produce:

1. A vaccination record
2. A negative PCR test
3. Pass a serological test upon entrance to Israel (only visitors arriving from nations NOT having a bilateral agreement with Israel recognizing each other’s vaccination certificates)
4. Possess a valid health insurance policy
5. Provide contact information (for the remote possibility of an epidemiological inquiry following the trip).

E. Israel presently accepts vaccinations recognized by the USA’s FDA and Europe’s EMA.

F. All groups will be accompanied by pre-authorized guide and driver, keep a detailed record of their movements, and follow careful guidelines (that your Sar-El operator will manage and oversee).

G. In the rare possibility of sickness or exposure to a confirmed sick person, quarantine requirements may be applied to the individual or the group, depending on the circumstances.

We are grateful that the State of Israel is taking positive and concrete steps to open up its borders to visitors, and we are hopeful that these entrance requirements will relax as we move forward and as the health concerns continue to diminish.

Stay tuned to your next update which our team will produce for you as the situation continues to unfold, and please contact your Sar-El operator ASAP for detailed information in order to stay abreast with all the needed details as you put together your upcoming groups to Israel.