MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th July, 2020) Israel will welcome Russian tourists once it reopens its borders, which are currently sealed due to the remaining risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Charge d'Affaires ad interim of Israel to Russia Yacov Livne told Sputnik.
Last week, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced that Russia will resume international air services with the United Kingdom, Turkey and Tanzania starting August 1. Negotiations are underway with about 30 other countries.
"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, Israel has not yet opened the borders to incoming tourism. We sincerely hope that this will be done in the nearest future. Russian tourists love Israel and they will always be very welcome in our country," Livne said.
According to the diplomat, the 2009 Israel-Russia agreement on visa-free travel has significantly increased the number of tourists from Russia visiting Israel and vice-versa. He noted that over 300,000 Russian tourists traveled to Israel and some 250,000 Israelis visited Russia in 2019.
"This positive trend should continue. We are happy to see Russian tourists among many others who choose to visit our beautiful country," Livne said.
In mid-May, Israel appeared to have successfully contained the spread of coronavirus in the country. Since June, however, the numbers began to climb steeply and have now exceeded any metrics from the first wave. The country has so far registered nearly 64,000 infections, a vast majority of whom have caught the virus since June. A total of 474 people in Israel have died from the disease.
