Israeli passport
The Israeli passport (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist. Dárkōn Yīśreʾēli; Script error: The function "langx" does not exist. Jawāz Safar Isrāʾīlī) is the travel document issued to citizens of the State of Israel for the purpose of international travel.[1] It grants the bearer visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 170 countries and territories, where they are entitled to the protection of Israeli consular officials.
Although Israelis are allowed multiple citizenship, a government regulation[specify] from 2002 forbids them from using foreign passports when entering or leaving Israeli territory. Holders of the Israeli passport—or, in some cases, a foreign passport that has been used to enter Israel—are entirely prohibited from entering sixteen countries.
History (1948–1980)
Mandatory Palestine passports ceased to be valid at the end of the British Mandate of Palestine on 15 May 1948. Israel began issuing what was described as travel documents from that date, with an initial validity of two years and used Hebrew and French texts. After the Knesset (Israeli parliament) passed the Israeli nationality law in 1952, Israeli travel documents began to be described as passports. The first passport was issued to Golda Meir, who at the time worked for the Jewish Agency and was soon to become Israel's ambassador to the Soviet Union (USSR).[2][3]
The first Israeli travel documents bore the limitation: "Valid to any country except Germany." An Israeli who wished to visit Germany had to ask that the words "except Germany" be deleted from their passport. This was done manually by drawing a line through these words.[4] After the signing of the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany in 1952, the limitation was withdrawn and passports became "valid to all countries".
Israeli passports are valid for up to a maximum of 10 years for all citizens aged 18 or older. Although they are written in both Hebrew and English, the direction of the page order (right-to-left) is dictated by Hebrew. Hebrew is the sole official language in Israel and the Israeli government recognizes Arabic as having a non-official special status in the country, but it is not used on passports. However, Israeli identity cards are co-written in Arabic.
Visa requirements
According to the 2018 Henley Passport Index, Israeli citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 161 countries and territories, ranking the Israeli passport 21st in the world in terms of travel freedom (tied with the Barbadian passport and the Emirati passport).[5] Additionally, Arton Capital's Passport Index ranked the Israeli passport 16th in the world in terms of travel freedom, with a visa-free score of 146, as of 2 December 2018.[6]
Designated "enemy states"
The Arab–Israeli conflict has had a profound effect, both internally and externally, on Israel's passport policy. Under the Prevention of Infiltration Law of 1954, the Israeli government designated Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, and Yemen as enemy states. However, Egypt and Jordan were dropped from this designation after the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty and the 1994 Israel–Jordan peace treaty. In 1979, Iran became the first non-Arab country to be designated by Israel as an enemy state, owing to the Islamic Revolution and the subsequent Iran–Israel proxy war.[7] Israeli citizens are prohibited from visiting designated enemy states without a special permit issued by the Interior Ministry. In January 2020, as part of further developments for Israeli–Saudi normalization, Israel's Interior Ministry announced that Israeli Muslims were now eligible to travel to Saudi Arabia for religious purposes (i.e., Umrah and Hajj), while Israeli Jews could visit the country for business purposes.[8]
Countries that do not accept Israeli passports
As of 2023[update], 28 countries do not recognize Israel's sovereignty. 25 of these are Muslim-majority countries, of which 15 explicitly do not process Israeli passport holders, and a further 7 of those 15 do not admit entry to non-Israelis with any sort of ties to Israel. These 15 countries are:
- A: Except for the autonomous Kurdistan Region;
- B: Unless a clearance permit is obtained from the Ministry of Home Affairs in addition to a visa prior to arrival;
- C: Except for transit;
- D: Unless a visa and police registration are obtained.
- E: Since 2020, except for religious purposes (for Israeli Muslims) and business purposes (for other Israelis)
The aforementioned 7 countries— Afghanistan,[21] Iran,[22] Kuwait,[23] Lebanon,[24] Libya,[25] Syria[26] and Yemen[27]—do not allow entry to non-Israelis with evidence of travel to Israel, or whose passports have a used or unused Israeli visa.
Consequently, many countries may issue a second passport to citizens wishing to circumvent this restriction, and the Israeli immigration services have now mostly ceased stamping entry or exit stamps in all Israeli and non-Israeli passports.[28]
Gallery
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An example of Israel's first travel document, dating from December 1948.
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Example of an early Israeli diplomatic passport, 1951
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An example of an early Israeli service passport, 1951 for MK Dayan.
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Israeli Diplomatic Passport No. 1, belonging to Chaim Weizmann.
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1950 Israel travel identity document issued to those lacking an official passport.
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An Israeli entry stamp in an Israeli non-biometric ordinary passport
References
- ↑ "Travel Documents". May 11, 2005. Archived from the original on 2005-05-11.
- ↑ "Golda". The Emery/Weiner School. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26.
- ↑ Pine, Dan. "Golda Meir's life was devoted to building Zionism". San Francisco Jewish Community Publications Inc. Archived from the original on August 26, 2012. Retrieved 2005-07-15.
- ↑ Amnon Dankner and David Tartakover, Where we were and what we did - an Israeli lexicon of the Fifties and the Sixties, Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem, p. 84 (in Hebrew).
- ↑ "Global Ranking - Passport Index 2018" (PDF). Henley & Partners. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2018. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Global Passport Power Rank | Passport Index 2020". Passport Index - All the world's passports in one place.
- ↑ "Is Libya an enemy country? The law isn't so clear". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 27 April 2010.
- ↑ "Not welcome: Saudi Arabia says Israelis cannot visit". www.aljazeera.com.
- ↑ "Which countries are Israelis prohibited from travelling to/through?". Crazy Llama. 2019-03-11. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
- ↑ Country category for visa application, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei.
- ↑ "Travel Advice for Iran - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade". Archived from the original on 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-05-07. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Travel Information Manual, International Air Transport Association (IATA).
- ↑ Travel Information Manual, International Air Transport Association (IATA).
- ↑ Travel Information Manual, International Air Transport Association (IATA).
- ↑ Travel Information Manual, International Air Transport Association (IATA).
- ↑ Travel Information Manual, International Air Transport Association (IATA).
- ↑ "Registration of foreigners with police". Archived from the original on 2024-03-15. Retrieved 2024-06-05. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Travel Information Manual, International Air Transport Association (IATA).
- ↑ "Jews of Yemen". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
- ↑ Travel Information Manual, International Air Transport Association (IATA).
- ↑ "Travel advice for Afghanistan".
- ↑ "Travel Advice for Iran - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade". Smartraveller.gov.au. Archived from the original on 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2013-07-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Travel Report - Kuwait". Voyage.gc.ca. 2012-11-16. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
- ↑ Travel Advice for Lebanon - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Archived 2008-12-24 at the Wayback Machine and Lebanese Ministry of Tourism Archived 2009-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Travel Advice for Libya - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade". Smartraveller.gov.au. Archived from the original on 2015-10-11. Retrieved 2013-07-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Travel Advice for Syria - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine and Syrian Ministry of Tourism Archived 5 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Travel Advice for Yemen - Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade". Smartraveller.gov.au. Archived from the original on 2011-08-20. Retrieved 2013-07-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Need to know about Israeli passport stamps in 2023 - Against the Compass". 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
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