Israel eases quarantine for Israelis after third jab

Israel made the surprise announcement on Monday, 30 August, that from 3 September, Israelis who are a week after their third dose of COVID-19 vaccine won’t have to do a week of quarantine upon returning from overseas.

This could increase travel to South Africa, as some olim told the SA Jewish Report they would consider a trip if they don’t have to quarantine on their return.

According to Dov Lipman, a former Knesset member and the founder of olim assistance organisation Yad L’Olim, Israelis who have had their third inoculation will have to quarantine only if they are returning from a “red listed” country. For countries on the “orange list” like South Africa, they will need to quarantine for 24 hours or until they receive their negative PCR results from a test when they land.

This also applies to non-Israelis who received a third dose in Israel which has been recorded in the Israeli health system.

In addition, from 3 September, anyone who is within six months of their second dose of the vaccine won’t have to do a week’s quarantine upon entering Israel. Instead, they will need to quarantine for 24 hours or until the post landing negative PCR comes back.

The country also opened up third vaccine shots for anyone over the age of 12 if five months have passed since their second dose.

“At the moment, there’s no change in policy for those vaccinated outside of Israel. They are still required to do seven days of quarantine with a negative PCR test upon arrival, and a negative PCR test on day seven,” says Lipman.

“Starting from 1 October, the green passports [allowing people into public places if they have been vaccinated] will expire six months after the second or third dose. This is to encourage people to get a third shot.”

Does all this mean that more Israelis may choose to travel to South Africa? One oleh, Robin Nussbaum, says it may convince him to make the trip. “I haven’t seen my parents in nearly two and a half years or my twin brother in four years, and I miss them. Last week, my colleague lost her mother in Turkey, and it made me want to get onto the soonest flight to Joburg to go and give my mom the hugest hug. But I couldn’t just go because it would have meant doing bidud [quarantine] while my kids start school this week.”

He says the change in quarantine rules may convince him to go, “because it would mean being away from my wife and kids for just my time in South Africa. Whereas before I would’ve had to take extra leave from work to isolate from my family for another week.

“Ideally, I’d love to take my kids to South Africa as my parents haven’t seen my daughter since she was a few weeks old, but that’s still not a possibility,” he says. “I have two sisters in Sydney, and they can’t see an end to their travel ban, which makes me feel more inclined to go, as I guess we’re lucky, and should take advantage of the situation. On the one hand, I think that I should go now before things change again and on the other, I want to wait to see if Israel will cancel isolation for vaccinated foreigners or first-degree relatives. It’s still not an easy decision.”

“I imagine that more people will leave Israel to visit family due to this change,” Lipman says. “However, I do caution everyone that given the reality of new variants that are popping up around the world, the rules are always subject to change.”