The Health Ministry has declared nine countries out of bounds for Israeli citizens due to the COVID situation there, and anyone returning from those countries – including Israelis who have been vaccinated for or recovered from COVID-19 – is required to self-quarantine upon arrival. However, many citizens have found ways of visiting those same destinations, most of which continue to welcome Israeli tourists, and many of the rebels refuse to quarantine upon returning home.
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Israelis who are currently traveling in Mexico and Brazil, as well as some who recently returned from those countries, tell Israel Hayom that this is how the system works: Israelis purchase tickets to a country to which Israelis are allowed to travel, such as Germany, and from there purchase separate tickets for flights that leave a few hours later to the countries that are on the Health Ministry's no-travel list, such as Brazil or Mexico, thus evading detection by Israeli authorities.
The return to Israel operates the same way.
Another country to which Israelis are banned from traveling is Turkey, but many still continue to visit. According to members of a Whatsapp group of Israeli tourists in Turkey, travelers buy tickets for flights that connect through Turkey, and then simply leave the airport at Istanbul. When they return to Israel, they announce that they have arrived from a third country and merely caught a connecting flight in Turkey. Thus, like travelers to South America, they avoid quarantine.
"They don't check at the airport," members of the group said.
Israel Hayom looked into the matter and found that there is no enforcement of quarantine regulations at Ben-Gurion International Airport, and the Health Ministry takes travelers at their word.
Currently, countries to which Israelis are not permitted to travel without a special permit include Ethiopia, Ukraine, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, Argentina, Russia, India, and South Africa.
The Health Ministry said in response to the issues raised here that "A citizen who arrived from a high-risk country and does not follow the rules endangers himself, his family, his friends, and the residents of his town. The conduct you described is criminal, and violates the law. When there is suspicion that a traveler is trying to trick the authorities, supervisors from the Interior Ministry's Population and Immigration Administration conduct an in-depth questioning, including a review of stamps in their passport."
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