Group of US Senate Democrats want Israel blocked from visa waiver programme

A group of Senate Democrats are urging the US State Department to block Israel's entry into the visa waiver programme.

The 15 left-leaning senators expressed their "serious concerns" about Israel's eligibility in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, saying that it would likely not be able to meet all of the requirements by the 30 September deadline.

Senators Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Brian Schatz of Hawaii initiated a letter earlier this month alleging that Israel operates a "two-tiered system that discriminates between different groups of US citizens," which the letter describes as "a system that clearly fails to meet the reciprocity requirements of the law."

At the heart of the controversy over Israel entering the visa waiver programme is the issue of reciprocity. Currently, many Palestinian Americans and other US citizens of Muslim heritage or from Muslim-majority countries experience trouble getting through Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. 

Until now, there doesn't appear to be a clear sign that this disparity will change before the 30 September deadline, despite an ongoing 90-day pilot programme that waives background checks for US citizens who are Palestinians from the West Bank, other Arabs, and Iranians.

With the deadline less than a month away, this letter appears to be a last-ditch effort for the senators to raise their concerns about what they see as discrimination on the part of Israel.

The senators have asked for a phone call with Blinken on the matter as soon as possible.

"We commend Senators Van Hollen and Schatz – and other senators – for their principled leadership on this issue. It is clear that Israel is not currently in compliance with the Visa Waiver Program admission requirements, and the Biden administration must not rush to admit Israel into the program at the expense of the 'Blue is Blue' principle and the requirement of reciprocity for all US citizens," said the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Nihad Awad, in a public statement.    

"CAIR has received and passed along multiple reports of Israel discriminating against and harassing American Palestinians and Muslims at every possible point while trying to enter and cross through Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza."  

He said, "We strongly urge Secretary Blinken and the Biden administration to heed the concerns raised by Senators Van Hollen and Schatz and to delay Israel's admission into the Visa Waiver Program until it can fully comply with all of the requirements and not harass and discriminate against Palestinian-American and American Muslim travellers."