English
In light of the Portuguese government’s decision to accept the EU recommendation to exclude Israel from the list of green countries and to ban Israelis, even vaccinated to enter Portugal, the Zionist movement “Over the Rainbow Portugal” has received hundreds of applications from Israelis seeking to reach Portugal and are in uncertainty. Advocate Itay Mor, president of the Zionist movement “Over the Rainbow Portugal”, appealed to the ministers and decision-makers in Portugal to reconsider the decision.
Adv. Itay Mor was interviewed about this by the English news site The Times of Israel.
An article reviewing the decisions of Portugal and Sweden to ban Israelis, even those vaccinated from entering its territory, stated that the Zionist movement “Over the Rainbow Portugal” had approached senior ministers in Lisbon with the aim of appealing the decision.
Advocate Itay Mor said the decision was incomprehensible because citizens of the United States and Brazil, two other countries that were also removed from the EU’s green and safest list of countries, are welcome in Portugal when Israelis are not.
“It’s absurd that one of the most vaccinated countries is now starting to be blocked out of parts of Europe,” Adv. Itay Mor told The Times of Israel, arguing it is particularly unfair since, he said, the count of serious virus cases in Israel has started to fall.
Adv. Itay Mor wrote to the Portuguese ministers: “We appeal to you to ensure that the measures currently in force in Portugal can be corrected as soon as possible so that the countless Israelis who wish to travel to the country can do so as soon as possible.”
Following an appeal by Adv. Itay Mor and the “Over rhe rainbow Portugal” movement, Rita Marques, the Secretary of State of Tourism in Portugal answered:
“we would like to thank you about the position of the OTRP regarding the recent inclusion of Israel in the list of countries to which restrictions apply to air traffic for non-essential travel, which deserved the best attention.
The Portuguese government essentially follows the EU recommendations on this matter, which is why Israel was added to the list of countries with air traffic restrictions for non-essential travel. This situation is periodically reviewed by the EU and also by Portugal, with the hope that the epidemiological situation in Israel will evolve so that this restriction can be reversed as soon as possible.
Israel is an important market for Portugal, particularly in terms of tourism, so the Secretary of State for Tourism is following the matter with special interest and dedication, and will do everything so that tourism in our country can resume safely and sustained, and as quickly as possible.״
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