ISSUE BRIEF
FULFILLING THE REQUIREMENTS ISRAEL’S ENTRY INTO THE US VISA WAIVER PROGRAM OCTOBER 2022
RUTH MARKS EGLASH & SCOTT LASENSKY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A little-discussed, yet far-reaching issue on the US-Israel bilateral agenda is Israel’s long-running quest to join the United States’ Visa Waiver Program (VWP). In his first year and a half in office, US President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has elevated the issue, and efforts to achieve Israel’s entry are gaining momentum after remaining stagnant during the Trump presidency. If Israel is admitted to the program, most Israelis will be able to travel to the United States for cultural exchanges, tourism, and business matters without facing the expensive, time-consuming, and lengthy process of obtaining a visa. US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides has pegged 2023 as a target for Israel fulfilling the program’s requirements. Yet a number of hurdles remain, including lowering Israel’s visa refusal rate, legislative action that Israel must take to align with data-sharing requirements, and compliance with the program’s reciprocity benchmarks.
As the Middle East and North Africa region undergoes significant political and socioeconomic change, the Council’s Middle East programming provides a forum for informing and galvanizing the transatlantic community to work together to address the range of challenges and support opportunities for growth in the region. Our work on the Middle East focuses on building peace and security and unlocking the region’s human potential.
Israel’s joining the VWP carries outsized significance for Israelis and a number of US constituencies, including Jewish Americans, who are deeply invested in expanding and deepening a wide range of exchange and educational programs that bring Israelis to the United States. It also carries significance for Muslim and Arab Americans, and especially for Palestinian Americans, who face complex travel conditions when traveling to Israel or the Palestinian Territories. The outgoing government of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett identified the VWP as a high priority, and Israel’s entry would be enormously popular with the Israeli public. If Israel wants to prioritize being admitted to the VWP, it will need to consider the recommendations in this report, which include prioritizing some modest but vital administrative and technical policy measures. Israel will also have to take and implement the policy decision to treat US passport holders of Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim heritage, as with all Americans, equally.