Israel is the only democracy in the world to prohibit its citizens from returning home during the pandemic, the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) said, urging authorities to relax an entry ban that, it says, violates human rights.
All entry points into Israel by land, sea and air remain shut tight since January 25 as part of the Benjamin Netanyahu government’s measures to prevent the new coronavirus variants from getting into the country. No one may come or go, except the few who have received a special permission from the Exceptions Committee.
The harsh restrictions that resulted in thousands of Israelis being stranded abroad are “extremely problematic from a constitutional perspective and are without parallel in the democratic world,” IDI experts said, in a paper submitted to Israel’s Deputy Attorney General, Raz Nizri, on Sunday.
Australia, France, Germany, UK, Russia, the US and other nations have tried different approaches in tackling the virus, but all of them have allowed their citizens to return, the institute pointed out.
