Starting Dec. 22, the U.S. could be on Israel's no-fly list due to high COVID infection rates. All travel from Israel to the U.S. will be banned, the Israeli government announced Sunday.
The Ministry of Health has recommended that the U.S., and nine other countries including Canada, be classified as "red list" countries. The decision now awaits final approval from the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.
Israeli citizens coming to Israel from the U.S. will have to go into full isolation, including those vaccinated or recovered. Non-Israeli citizens coming from the U.S. will not be allowed to enter Israel, officials said.
At the start of the weekly cabinet, Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the fact the country is in a "relatively good situation" is "not a coincidence." He attributed delaying the entry of the variant to Israel to travel bans. "What a pity that other countries did not do as we did," he said Sunday.
In addition to the U.S., Israel also will also move Belgium, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Switzerland and Turkey to the no-fly list this week on Dec. 22. Norway, France, Spain, Sweden and the UAE will be added to Israel's no-fly list at midnight Dec. 20.
There are 52 countries on Israel's red list.
-ABC News' Christine Theodorou