12 September 2023; MEMO: Fifteen Democratic senators are urging the Biden administration to refrain from including Israel in the US Visa Waiver Program due to its failure to provide equal treatment to Palestinian-Americans seeking entry into the nation.
A US State Department spokesperson told Haaretz that “Israel’s entry into the program depends on it meeting all VWP requirements, including the requirement to extend reciprocal privileges to all US citizens without regard to national origin, religion, or ethnicity.”
Israel, facing a 30 September deadline to qualify its citizens for visa-free admission to the United States, said it has loosened access through its main airport and at the Occupied West Bank’s boundary for Palestinian-Americans, allowing more than 2,000 people to cross into or through Israel.
US State Department officials have said the Visa Waiver Programme must apply to all American citizens, including those in Gaza. However, a number of Palestinian-Americans with Gaza identity papers have said they have been prevented from entering Israel.
“There is no provision in the law that provides that a visa waiver country can discriminate against certain groups of US citizens for the first seven months of the programme simply because a country claims they will treat all US citizens equally for the last five months of the fiscal year,” the senators wrote.
“It would be a violation of the law if we accelerated the entry of a country into the visa exemption program in a certain year even though it did not meet a basic condition, just because it is not clear whether, in the following year, it will be able to meet another basic condition.”
Moreover, the senators noted that, based on reports they have received, Palestinians residing in the Occupied West Bank are unable to bring their vehicles into Israel. Additionally, those arriving in Israel are prohibited from renting vehicles at the airport.
“If the United States acts according to the principle of reciprocity, it will mean that certain groups of Israelis – such as those living in the settlements – will not receive permission to rent cars when they arrive in the United States, or will receive different treatment from other Israelis,” the senators added.
The senators warned Blinken to make sure that Israel fully meets the full criteria for admission before it is included in the visa exemption programme and not after the move has been initiated.
“Although we hope that Israel will meet all conditions in the future, its entry into the visa exemption program cannot come at the expense of the principle of equal treatment for all Americans and the principle of reciprocity,” they wrote.
The letter was initiated by Senator Chris Van Hollen, who is considered one of the main critics of the government of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, among the Democrats. Other signatories include Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dick Durbin.
