LONDON: Israel has been accused of stopping Palestinian Americans from entering the country from the West Bank, contradicting a September agreement signed between Tel Aviv and Washington.
The deal introduced visa-free travel between the US and Israel, and was meant to lift restrictions on American Muslims and Arabs traveling to and from the Occupied Territories.
Previously, most were forced to travel via Jordan’s capital Amman if they wished to reach the West Bank.
However, the Gaza conflict has seen an uptick in violence in the West Bank, leading to Israel tightening border security and hindering the unrestricted travel that the deal was meant to usher in.
Erin Heeter, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Homeland Security, told the New York Times that officials were working to resolve the issues facing many US citizens as a result.
“US government officials are working with the government of Israel to address reports of Americans facing issues in traveling to and flying out of Ben-Gurion Airport,” she said.
Though over 100,000 US citizens used a pilot version of the scheme earlier in 2023 to travel to Israel, Fidah Mousa, a Palestinian American who lives in the West Bank, told the NYT that some doubted Israel would ever uphold its side of the visa-free bargain in full.
Mousa, who bought a ticket to fly to her daughter’s wedding in the US in October via Tel Aviv, said: “Of course, everybody got excited about this new regulation, allowing us to go through Ben-Gurion because of our citizenship. Deep down, I didn’t think it was going to last.”
Palestinian-American lawyer Inam Mansor, who lives in the West Bank, told the NYT that an Israeli border official told her on Oct. 12 that Palestinian Americans were no longer eligible for the visa-free scheme.
Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute, said the policy reversal was “yet another example of why Israel does not belong in this program.”
At the same time, following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, the US changed details of the program to make it easier for Israelis fleeing their country for America to do so.
The State Department also organized charter flights in the aftermath of the attack for US citizens in Israel despite commercial flights continuing to run from Tel Aviv to America and Europe, many with significant numbers of empty seats.
Department officials told the NYT that it acknowledged many flights were leaving Tel Aviv half empty, but that in the meantime they were working to help Americans in the West Bank affected by the border restrictions travel to Jordan over land rather than to Israel.
“To expand the departure options for US citizens in the West Bank, the State Department has begun chartering overland transportation for US citizens and their immediate family members from the West Bank to Jordan,” the department told the paper.
