The Israeli government was expected on Sunday to approve two crucial bills that would advance Israel's inclusion in the lucrative list of countries exempt from obtaining a visa when traveling to the United States for tourism purposes.
Two bills on the matter were passed in first reading in the previous Knesset, and will be subject to the rule of continuity, so that they can be quickly advanced in the current parliament.
The newfound urgency to pass the legislations follows the announcement late last week by the U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides that the visa refusal rate for Israeli applicants has dropped below 3% - the threshold set by the Americans as a condition to be considered for the prestigious Visa Waiver Program.
The procedures for seeing through the bills were sabotaged in the previous Knesset by the opposition, then headed by Benjamin Netanyahu.
MK Ofir Katz, the head of the coalition, decided to prioritize the legislation, and set a goal to pass the four bills that appertain to the visa exemption in a time span of one and half months.
Two of the four bills, which passed the first reading in the previous government, will be discussed in the Knesset plenum on Monday.
The coalition is apparently expecting support for the bills from the opposition, despite their refusal to back the Bennett-Lapid government's efforts to advance the same legislations.
Meanwhile, Head of the National Security Council Tzachi Hanegbi said he will work toward seeing through the amendments required by the Visa Waiver Program pertaining to the Israel Police, the Tax Authority, and the Population Authority.
Hanegbi said he hopes to have the amendments in place by the end of September. If this succeeds, Israelis will be able to fly to the U.S. without a visa as soon as October 1st, 2023.
One of the amendments entails the transfer of information on passengers bound for the U.S., which would give the American authorities the tools to identify criminals, including those involved in money laundering, and suspected terrorists.
The Knesset will also have to approve an Application Programming Interface law that would provide information about potential bad actors during the check-in process, and make it possible for authorities in the U.S. to deny entry even before their flights depart.
Only after the necessary legislations are completed, would the U.S. State Department and Homeland Security Department greenlight Israel's inclusion in the program. Given the U.S. will review Israel's application for Visa Waiver Progam in July-August, a final decision could be made as soon as September.
If all goes well, Israel would become the 41st country whose residents would be exempt from obtaining visas upon entering the U.S., and Israelis would be permitted to enter after merely filling an online form prior to their trip.