U.S. accelerates start of visa waiver program for Israel amid war

Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Israelis can now travel visa free to the United States for up to 90 days, the Biden administration said, as it brought forward the start date of the visa waiver program by more than a month.

The Department of Homeland Security in late September had announced that beginning Nov. 30, Israelis would be able to enter the country visa free, but the federal agency activated the program Thursday, seemingly in response to Israel's war against Hamas.

"This program will further strengthen the ties between our two countries and, more importantly, between our people," Stephanie Hallett, interim charge d'Affaires for the U.S. mission to Israel, said in a recorded statement in late September when the program was first announced.

Israel had been seeking to join the visa program for years, and in July it moved closer to achieving that goal when it allowed all U.S. citizens, including Palestinian Americans residing in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, to enter the country.

The move was necessary as one of the requirements for admittance to the program was that Israel must ensure equal treatment of all U.S. citizens, without regard to national origin, religion or ethnicity.

In the statement announcing the start of the program Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security highlighted that Israel "has committed in writing to the United States" that all U.S. citizens traveling with a U.S. passport will be allowed to enter the Middle Eastern country.

"The United States continuously monitors implementation of program requirements by all visa waiver program countries, including Israel, to ensure that they remain in good standing with all program requirements," it said.

The start of the program also comes a day after Joe Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Israel at war. Biden touched down in Tel Aviv as Israel has been waging war against Hamas since Oct. 7.

"Mr. President, for the people of Israel there is only one thing better than having a true friend like you standing with Israel and that is having you standing in Israel," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said to Biden on Wednesday, who added that the American president's visit to Tel Aviv amid war was "deeply, deeply moving."

"It speaks to the depth of your personal commitment to the future of the Jewish people and the one and only Jewish state."

With Israel's acceptance, there are now 41 countries apart of the U.S. visa waiver program.