Israeli tourists wishing to travel to the United States must be granted an entry visa.
They must pay $160, stand in line outside the U.S. embassy or consulate for hours, in the pouring rain or under the scorching sun, after filling out a 250-question online form.
Since Israeli-American relations are described as the best ever, why are Israelis still excluded from entry into the U.S. without a visa?
As of November 2019, Polish citizens no longer have to apply for a tourist visa.
Thanks to a political decision taken by President Donald Trump, they can now remain up to 90 days in America, now that Poland has been admitted into the Visa Waiver Program.
There are 36 countries that enjoy this special status including Greece, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Chile, the Principality of Andorra and Brunei.
Why are Israelis less eligible?
Israel's economy is thriving, and its GDP is higher than many of the countries already in the waiver program.
Israel has complied with most requirements the United States has demanded. It had issued biometric passports, had fulfilled the stringent security checks and had signed the Preventing and Cobmbatting Serious Crimes agreement providing the U.S. with information on Israelis suspected of crimes.
There are only two requirements still standing in the way of the coveted program: Israel's treatment of Palestinian Americans at its ports of entry and the number of Israeli visa applications rejected. The requirement is no more than 3% annually.
More than 5% of visa applicants from Israel have been turned down for the past five years running. The decision to grant or deny entry is taken randomly by local consulates.
Many young Israelis who have completed their compulsory military service are turned down over concerns they will try to work illegally in the U.S.
Poland has managed to reduce its number of rejected applications and had remained under the 3% bar in 2019, but Ireland and South Korea have both been accepted into the program despite their refusal numbers exceeding the requirement.
Israeli sources believe there is little chance of an exemption any time soon. They warn against believing politicians who promise the change is just around the corner.
It is time for the American president to include Israel in the waiver program, being the savvy businessman that he is. If he were to read the U.S. Travel Association 2018 report, he would see that the average Israeli tourist, one of the 439,000 visiting that year, had spent $3,659 on his trip.
If Israelis were to be accepted into the waiver program the number of tourists would rise and over a three-year period those travelers would add $3.6 billion to the local economy and create up to 6,000 new jobs.
It seems that more than the joint values shared by our two countries, and our historic alliance as democracies, inducting Israel into the Visa Waiver Program would just be an artful deal.