The United States has been added to Israel’s “no-fly” list over concerns about the increase in Omicron cases.
"Omicron is already in Israel and it is spreading fast...The fifth wave has begun," said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in an address to the nation on Sunday.
On Monday, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland and Turkey were added to the list along with the U.S. Thus far, Israel has banned travel to more than 50 countries, according to Reuters.
The rare move to red-list the U.S. comes amid rising coronavirus infections in Israel and marks a change to pandemic practices between the two nations with close diplomatic relations. The U.S. will join a growing list of European countries and other destinations to which Israelis are barred from traveling, and from which returning travelers must remain in quarantine.
A parliamentary committee is expected to give the measure final approval. Once authorized, the travel ban will take effect at midnight Wednesday morning. (Associated Press)
The move comes after 10 percent of a flight from Miami tested positive for Covid-19, with most suspected to be the Omicron variant.
According to Haaretz, "assessments presented to Bennett on Saturday predicted that the number of omicron cases in Israel will reach 400 to 600 over the next week, in light of the number of cases that cannot be traced back to people who traveled abroad."
There are currently 175 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in Israel, the Health Ministry said.