Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's efforts to stop Israelis from going abroad and stop the flow of inbound tourists through new restrictions have caused an uproar among travel agents and others in the tourism industry, with some lamenting that the government was acting capriciously.
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Due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, government and health officials call on Israelis almost daily not to travel abroad unless absolutely necessary and again delayed the date of entry for vaccinated tourists into the country.
"We are postponing the date of entry for tourists; it is not going to happen on Aug. 1," Health Minister Director-General Nachman Ash announced in a press conference on Sunday, without setting a new date.
Kobi Karni, Chairman of the Association of Travel Agencies, issued a letter accusing Bennett and the government of making decisions without taking the needs of the industry into account.
"The travel industry is in an unprecedented crisis and economic struggle, and it operates only at 20% capacity compared to pre-pandemic times. This is the result, among other things, of the government imposing restrictions on Ben-Gurion International Airport.
"We were shocked when the prime minister called on the public for the second time not to travel abroad, not to book tickets, and even said that some flights might be canceled. From the moment Bennett made his announcement, we were flooded with thousands of phone calls and requests to cancel the already few reservations that had been booked, which is destroying our ability to keep the industry afloat during the crisis," he continued.
According to Karni, the agents are not against the efforts to battle the pandemic but are against what they see as an irrational approach.
"We would like to note that we do not oppose the move itself, but the prime minister cannot simply undermine our livelihood without taking immediate responsibility for the people whose livelihoods are directly affected by his decisions."
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